Chapo att’ys can’t count on payment

ENTER AT YOUR own risk.

That’s the message coming from Brooklyn federal prosecutors to the lawyers El Chapo hired to defend him against a mountain of drug trafficking charges.

Earlier this week, Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman’s current set of appointed lawyers asked the court to give prosecutors a deadline to say if they were coming after the legal fees paid to the alleged Mexican drug kingpin's new lawyers.

Without those assurances, the new lawyers — including high-profile attorney Jeffrey Lichtman — were “reluctant” to formally enter the case, the appointed lawyers said.

On Friday, prosecutors told Guzman’s defense team not to hold their breath. They weren’t planning on serving up any guarantees, they insisted.

In court papers, prosecutors said their office “will not grant a blanket, prospective assurance that it will forgo forfeiture of any and all funds received from the defendant for his legal fees.”

Authorities say they’re pressing for Guzman to forfeit $14 billion in drug money.