A Mexican drug cartel "queen" pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court in Miami to a drug trafficking charge.  Cartel "queen" Sandra Avila Beltran has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in a drug trafficking cartel.

Sandra Avila Beltran, 52, the Mexican woman who was once known as "La Reina del Pacífico" or "Queen of the Pacific", has admitted her role in aiding Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. She has admitted she provided money to Juan Diego Espinosa Ramirez, once her boyfriend and former Colombian drug lord, in order to help him avoid arrest.

Avila admitted her role in a statement that has been filed in federal court. It reads that she gave Espinosa money "with the intention of preventing or hindering his arrest for his drug trafficking crimes" between 2002 and 2004.

Avila is the most notorious female currently linked to drug trafficking and cartels in Mexico. She is often called the "Queen of the Pacific" because, according to officials, she allegedly pioneered smuggling routes up Mexico's Pacific Coast into California.

In the 1990s, Avila allegedly helped build up the Sinaloa cartel in conjunction with Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the gang's leader. And she is "Queen", in part, because it runs in the family-Avila's also niece to Miguel Felix Gallardo, a.k.a. the "Godfather" of the Mexican drug trade. Gallardo is currently serving a 40-year for the murder of a U.S. drug enforcement agent in Mexico.

Juan Diego Espinosa Ramirez was arrested in 2007 and, after extradition to the United States, pleaded guilty in 2009 to cocaine trafficking charges. He once served as a link between Colombia's Norte del Valle drug cartel and Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

Avila was extradited to the United States from Mexico last year. The former cartel "queen" now faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $5 million. Sentencing is scheduled to take place on July 25.