‘El Chapo’ gets life in prison
Cocaine kingpin calls 11-week trial in New York unjust
NEW YORK — There was no escaping prison this time for El Chapo.
Cocaine kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to die inside an American penitentiary during a bizarre Wednesday hearing where the murderous drug lord painted himself as the victim.
The cartel boss, in a rambling 15-minute Brooklyn Federal Courthouse speech before his mandated life sentence was imposed, claimed that he was railroaded at the 11-week trial that ended with his multiple convictions.
“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,” said Guzmán, speaking through a translator. “You denied me a fair trial while the whole world was watching. What happened here is very clear, that the United States is no better than any corrupt country that you don’t respect.”
Prosecutors called 50 witnesses in their detailed and damning case against Guzmán, 62. In contrast, the defense rested after presenting just a single witness to the jury.
The full sentence was life plus 30 years, insuring the once high-flying Guzmán — who twice escaped from Mexican prisons — will spend the rest of his days behind bars.
But in his final public stand, El Chapo declared
the case against him was rigged from the start.
“Why did we go to trial?” he asked rhetorically. “Why didn’t you sentence me on day one?”
Sentencing Judge Brian Cogan provided the answer in handing down the maximum sentence, citing the “mountain” of evidence presented against Guzmán.
El Chapo, who arrived at the courthouse under heavy security just before midnight Tuesday, thanked his wife, Emma Coronel, and other friends for their support since his arrest, extradition and prosecution by U.S. authorities.
“Their prayers have given me the strength to brave this torture of the last 36 months,” he said. “It has been psychological, emotional and mental torture 24 hours a day.”
Coronel, 30, walked into the building early Wednesday with her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. The wife, who appeared frequently during her spouse’s trial, ran a gantlet of media outside the courthouse just to get through the front doors. Media members were lining up nine hours before the hearing in hopes of landing a seat inside. Guzmán opted not to testify at trial, speaking only to inform the judge of his decision. Prosecutors laid out a case during the trial showing that Guzmán smuggled tons of cocaine and other drugs across the Mexican border and into the United States, using an army of violent underlings to torture, kidnap and murder any human obstacles to his lucrative and lethal business.
The defense had 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 publicized case.
“A fair outcome was a fair trial — that’s all we wanted,” defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told reporters Wednesday outside the federal courthouse. “It was not justice. We can’t have a situation where the jurors are running around lying to a judge about what they were doing.”
Guzmán has been largely cut off from the outside world since his extradition in 2017. U.S. authorities have kept him in an ultra-secure unit at a Manhattan jail and under close guard at his appearances at the Brooklyn courthouse where his case unfolded.
Andrea Valez, an employee of El Chapo’s former assistant Alex Cifuentes, delivered a victim impact statement where she recounted how Guzman wanted her dead.
“I’m a miracle of God, because Mr. Guzman wanted to kill me,” she told the court. “If I left the organization, I could only do it in a (body) bag.”
Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope said Guzmán’s fate will have “no impact” on trafficking. In the wake of Guzmán’s arrest and extradition, alleged capo Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada is believed to have long-ago consolidated control of the Sinaloa cartel.
“El Chapo is now an old story,” Hope said.
Associated Press contributed.