Whether or not the unsubscribed status of the lead is used depends on the settings you have in place. You can override the unsubscribed settings under Admin > Sales Insight > Edit Settings.
Here's the Product Doc that describes how it works:
Configure Unsubscribe Footers in Marketo Sales Insight - Marketo Docs - Product Docs
Sales people are supposed to be responding to inquiries by customers, not performing marketing efforts. So, if that's the case, the fact that a lead is unsubscribed from marketing emails would not apply and you could email them even if they are unsubscribed in Marketo. Given this scenario, Marketo allows you the option to either apply the unsubscribe settings, or to bypass them when the emails are sent by Sales Insight.
This option needs to be used very carefully because it does bypass the unsubscribe settings. In the product doc linked above, and in the settings themselves, it describes whether the unsubscribe footer should be shown or not. This is determining whether the unsubscribe link is even included in the email, and whether the unsubscribed settings are applied.