Drug boss ‘El Chapo’ faces life in prison after conviction
NEW YORK: Mexican drug boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was convicted on Tuesday by a US jury for smuggling narcotics into the United States over decades.
Guzman, 61, was found guilty on all 10 counts, after a three-month trial in New York. The main count, “engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise,” was for trafficking tens of thousands of kilograms of drugs into the US.
He was also convicted of a slew of other drug-smuggling charges, conspiracy to commit murder and money-laundering conspiracy.
Guzman’s lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman told reporters outside court that the verdict was unfair and that “of course” they would appeal, adding” the fight isn’t over.”
“We fought like hell,” Lichtman told reporters, adding that he had never had a case with so much evidence and so many witnesses.
Guzman is staying positive despite the fact that he is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison, Lichtman added.
Guzman listened intently as the verdict was read out by the judge and looked across at his wife, beauty queen Emma Coronel, who was sitting in the public gallery, as he was led away after the verdict was read.
He made a thumbs-up gesture at Coronel before he left.
His lawyers asked Judge Brian Cogan to ask each individual juror if they agreed with the verdict, which came on the sixth day of deliberations.
Cogan praised the jury for their attention and deliberations in the long trial, and said it made him “very proud to be an American” that they took such care over making a decision on another person’s life.
Richard Donoghue, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where Guzman was tried, said he was expecting the judge to give Guzman a life sentence without the chance of parole, “a sentence from which there is no escape.”
Donoghue called the conviction a “victory” for the American people, and for Mexico, in comments outside the court.
The conviction shows the “extraordinary reach” of the US government in its ability to pursue major criminals, acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker said.
“This case, and more importantly, this conviction serves as an irrefutable message to the kingpins that remain in Mexico, and those that aspire to be the next Chapo Guzman, that eventually you will be apprehended and prosecuted,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker said Guzman left “a wake of corruption and violence in communities in both Mexico and the United States.” Guzman was able “to employ violence on a massive scale,” he added.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said: “Today’s verdict sends an unmistakable message to transnational criminals: you cannot hide, you are not beyond our reach, and we will find you and bring you to face justice.”
The former head of the Sinaloa cartel was extradited to the US in early 2017 to face the charges. As part of the extradition agreement with Mexico, the US ruled out the death penalty. A provisional date for his sentencing has been set for June 25.
Guzman was also convicted of a slew of other drug-smuggling charges,conspiracy to commit murder and moneylaundering conspiracy