(CHICAGO) International money launderer Edgar Valencia Ortega was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday, for his role in the Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Ortega, 29, pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy in April. He laundered between $1.5 million and $3.5 million to Mexico for the cartel led by notorious imprisoned drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, federal prosecutors say.

U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo handed down the sentence on Friday.

Federal prosecutors had asked Castillo to sentence Ortega to more than 11 years in prison. They say Ortega laundered millions in drug proceeds to Mexico, taking a commission on each transaction. One courier was caught with $149,050 in May 2013, according to prosecutors.

Ortega also took a commission while brokering cocaine deals, the feds say. After he helped negotiate a June 2013 deal with a customer in Los Angeles, 41 kilograms of cocaine and $325,000 were seized from a courier tasked with delivering the drugs. The feds seized 93 kilograms of cocaine in September 2013 while they said Ortega was in the midst of another deal.

Born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, Ortega was arrested while vacationing in the United States. His lawyers say he admitted to his crimes immediately, and they had asked the judge for a light sentence.

“Mr. Valencia Ortega and his siblings grew up with the children of high level Sinaloa cartel members,” defense attorney Lisa Wood wrote in a memo late last week to Castillo.

“This social circle provided Mr. Valencia Ortega access to individuals engaged in large scale criminal activity relatively quickly — much more quickly, at least, than someone without such a network. It also provided him with credibility that outsiders did not have.”

— Chicago Sun-Times