El Chapo gets life; US wants his $12.6B fortune
NEW YORK – Notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was formally sentenced Wednesday to life in prison after leading a decadeslong life of brutal and lucrative crime.
Brooklyn U.S. District Court Judge Brian Cogan imposed extra security provided by bomb-sniffing dogs and automatic-rifle-toting U.S. marshals and other measures – all ordered because the 62-year-old former leader of the Sinaloa narcotics cartel staged two escapes from Mexican jails.
“The overwhelming evil is so clear,” Cogan said as he imposed the punishment in the same courtroom where a jury convicted Guzmán in February.
The internationally known defendant, found guilty on drug trafficking and weapons charges, was ordered to forfeit $12.6 billion based on the quantity and value of the drugs in his crimes.
“It’s part of the show trial,” defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said after the sentencing. “How do they get to dollar one? There are no assets.”
Guzmán could be sent to the socalled Alcatraz of the Rockies, the “administrative maximum” prison in Florence, Colorado. There he would join, but probably never meet, inmates such as Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols.
Guzmán, who did not testify in his trial, spoke during the sentencing. Spotting his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, as he entered the courtroom, he waved and touched his hand to his heart.
Then he let go, criticizing U.S. officials for keeping him from his wife and young twin daughters. He called his pretrial jail conditions “torture” and said he was a victim of jury misconduct that caused an unfair trial.
Guzmán staged one prison break by having underlings dig a nearly milelong tunnel to his Mexican cell and outfit it with electrical lights and a motorcycle.
His trial unfolded like a must-see telenovela as millions of readers and viewers followed the developments. Scores of people trekked to the Brooklyn courthouse in the middle of the night in hope of landing one of the few available seats in the courtroom.