NEW YORK: The notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been sentenced to life behind bars in a U.S. prison.
A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down the sentence Wednesday. Guzman was convicted in February in an epic drug-trafficking case.
The 62-year-old drug lord was brought to the U.S. to stand trial after he twice broke out of Mexican prisons.
The guilty verdict triggered a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
Guzman told U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan before he was sentenced Wednesday that he was denied a fair trial.
He said Cogan failed to thoroughly investigate claims of juror misconduct in the case.
Under Guzman’s leadership, the Sinaloa cartel was responsible for multiple murders and smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States.
Guzman’s lawyers said he was framed. The Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo says he was denied a fair trial.
Joaquin Guzman told a federal judge Wednesday that his case was “stained” by juror misconduct.
He said the judge denied him a fair trial on drug trafficking charges “when the whole world was watching.”
He also complained about the conditions of his confinement in New York. Guzman faces a mandatory life sentence for murder conspiracy and drug charges.
Guzman’s attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan to grant him a new trial following a report that jurors improperly viewed media coverage of the highly publicized trial. Cogan denied that request.
The wife of the Mexican drug lord known as “El Chapo” has arrived at her husband’s long-awaited sentencing in New York.
Emma Coronel Aispuro walked into the heavily guarded federal courthouse in Brooklyn on Wednesday as Joaquin Guzman prepared to learn his fate for running a murderous drug-trafficking ring.
Coronel regularly attended Guzman’s proceedings even when testimony cast her in a harsh light.
Guzman faces a mandatory sentence of life without parole following his February conviction.
He will be offered the chance to speak publicly before U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan pronounces Guzman’s sentence.
Guzman is expected to serve his time at the “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado.
That lockup houses some of the most notorious criminals ever to set foot in an American courtroom.
