Chicago: A Mexican man was sentenced Monday to 22 years in federal prison for smuggling cocaine to Chicago.

"I tell you on behalf of all citizens of Chicago... we are tired of this drug trafficking," US District Judge Ruben Castillo said in pronouncing sentence.

Alfredo Vazquez Hernandez,69, had begged the court's pardon and said he was ready to admit his guilt.

The convicted trafficker is godfather to one of the children of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who led Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel until he was apprehended in February after more than 13 years on the run.

The judge did not accept the plea for the obligatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, because he considered it "nonsensical to think" that Hernandez took part in just one operation of transporting cocaine from Mexico to Chicago.

The judge, however, did not insist on the maximum penalty of 30 years requested by the prosecution, saying that no evidence had been presented indicating that Hernandez was a high-ranking figure in the cartel or had taken part in any of the acts of violence ordered by Guzman.

Hernandez declared himself guilty of conspiring to import and distribute drugs, in order to avoid the life sentence that a jury trial might have dealt him.