Life in Supermax for defiant El Chapo
Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin ‘‘El Chapo’’ Guzman was sentenced yesterday to life behind bars in a US prison, expressing no remorse over his conviction for a massive drug conspiracy that spread murder and mayhem for more than two decades.
Instead, a defiant Guzman took a parting shot at a judge in federal court in Brooklyn by accusing him of making a mockery of the US justice system in refusing to order a new trial based on unsubstantiated allegations of juror misconduct.
‘‘My case was stained and you denied me a fair trial when the whole world was watching,’’ Guzman said through an interpreter.
Experts say he will likely wind up at the federal government’s Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, where inmates are held alone for 23 hours a day and have little human interaction.
‘‘Since the government will send me to a jail where my name will not ever be heard again, I take this opportunity to say there was no justice here,’’ he said.
The 62-year-old drug lord — sporting his trademark moustache after being clean-shaven during his trial – also used what could be his last chance to speak in public by complaining about being kept in solitary confinement since he was brought to the US to stand trial after twice breaking out of Mexican prisons.
Before handing down the sentence, US District Judge Brian Cogan said Guzman’s complaints were minor given the ‘‘mountain range of evidence’’ against him detailing conduct he described as ‘‘evil.’’
Guzman had no visible reaction at hearing his sentence. As he stood to be led out of the courtroom, he put his hand on his heart and waved to family members.
Outside court, US Attorney Richard Donoghue told reporters: ‘‘Never again will Guzman pour poison over our borders.’’
The term – life plus 30 years – was a foregone conclusion. The guilty verdict on drug-trafficking charges in February triggered a mandatory sentence of life without parole .
Cogan also ordered Guzman to pay US$12.6 billion (NZ$18.7b) in ill-gotten proceeds — money his drug-trafficking organisation made distributing cocaine and other drugs around the United States.
The evidence at an 11-week trial showed that Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25-year reign, prosecutors said in recent court papers.
They also said his ‘‘army of sicarios’’ was under orders to kidnap, torture and murder anyone who got in his way.
The defence argued he was framed by other traffickers who became government witnesses so they could get breaks in their own cases. They also claimed his trial was tainted by jurors improperly viewing media coverage of the highly publicised case.
‘‘A fair outcome was a fair trial – that’s all we wanted,’’ defence attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told reporters yesterday outside the federal courthouse. ‘‘It was not justice.’’