The Mexican drug lord is known as “El Chapo” was convicted to life plus 30 years in a U.S. prison on Wednesday for convictions on conspiracy murder and drug charges, culminating in an epic trafficking case that even he admitted, “the whole world was watching.”
Wearing a suit and shaking hands with lawyers, Joaquin Guzman blew kisses to his wife in the gallery before railing against a New York federal lawyer.
He also complained about the circumstances under which he was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, where Paul Manafort and Jeffrey Epstein are also kept.
“The last 30 months have been torture,” Guzman said in Spanish. He said that he doesn’t sleep soundly, that he doesn’t breathe well and that he doesn’t see sunlight, also decrying his wife and daughters ‘ absence of visitation.
Judge Brian Cogan said that the sentence to life was mandatory and he did not have any discretion. He said the record of the trial speaks for itself and the “overwhelming evil” is so serious, so mountainous the proof that the word is suitable. The US Attorney Eastern District of the agreed.
At least for the next 60 days, Guzman’s legal team asked the convict to stay in New York City; the federal government said it had no problem with the petition. Cogan also said he had no problem, leaving it to the Federal Prison Bureau.
As the sentence was handed down, Guzman’s oldest daughter was in the courtroom. His wife was previously seen arriving in a black SUV in front of the courthouse building. Wearing sunglasses with a beige top and black jacket, a legion of law enforcement and safety officers escorted her inside.
While Guzman’s persona dominated the trial as an almost mythical outlaw carrying a diamond-encrusted handgun and staying one step ahead of the law, Guzman himself was never heard by the jury until the day of the sentence, except when he informed the judge that he would not testify.
Evidence at Guzman’s trial proposed his choice to remain silent at the defense table was against his nature, though: Cooperating witnesses told jurors that he was a fan of his own narco tale about rags-to-riches, always keen to discover an author or screenwriter to tell. There were also reports that he was itching to testify in his own defense until his lawyers spoke out of it, making his sentence the last opportunity to take the spotlight. And he’s done that.