Deliberations in ‘El Chapo’ trial drag on

NEW YORK: Jurors were expected to begin their second week of deliberations yesterday morning in the trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who rose to fame as Mexico’s most feared drug kingpin and now faces life in prison if found guilty.

The 12 jurors began deliberating in federal court in Brooklyn on Feb 4, and were dismissed for the week on Thursday afternoon. The lack of a verdict in the first week seemed to please Mr Guzman, who grinned and hugged one of his lawyers before he was led out of the courtroom.

Mr Guzman, 61, is accused of trafficking tonnes of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine into the United States as leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, named for his home state in northwestern Mexico.

Mr Guzman escaped twice from maximum-security Mexican prisons before his final capture in January 2016. He was extradited to the United States a year later. Small in stature, Mr Guzman’s nickname means “Shorty”.

His defence has argued that Mr Guzman was set up as a “fall guy” by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a drug kingpin from Sinaloa who remains at large. Prosecutors have said Mr Guzman and Mr Zambada were partners.

More than 50 witnesses testified during the 11-week trial, including 14 former associates of Mr Guzman who had agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors.

The cooperators, most of whom had pleaded guilty to US drug charges, offered detailed accounts of the Sinaloa Cartel’s inner workings and Mr Guzman’s purported role as boss, describing his lavish lifestyle and penchant for murdering his enemies.

In a series of notes last week, the jury sought answers to legal questions and asked to review days of testimony from several of the cooperators. The notes suggested that the jury is poring over the voluminous evidence from the trial in detail.