US court rejects drug lord El Chapo's appeal

A New York court has rejected Mexican drug lord El Chapo's appeal of his life sentence in 2019.

Brian Cogan was also the judge who presided over El Chapo's 2019 trial.

El Chapo previously filed an appeal with the federal court, asking for a re-evaluation of the legality of the life sentence imposed in 2019, and requested additional representation during the appeal process.

Drug lord Guzman being escorted to the Ministry of Justice in Mexico City in January 2016. Photo: Reuters

The Eastern District Court of New York found that Guzman had not fully considered his plea agreement before his 2019 verdict. It also cited evidence that the Mexican kingpin still controlled billions of dollars in assets from his drug empire, even though his name was not on the papers.

The court also rejected the Mexican drug lord's remaining request for additional legal representation. The judge noted that El Chapo already had legal counsel, Mariel Colon Miro, who also represented the drug lord's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro.

Judge Cogan questioned how the drug lord got the money to pay his lawyers while he was incarcerated and his assets were frozen. The court also questioned why El Chapo’s wife has not been able to access his assets since her release from prison in September.

Guzman, 66, is serving a life sentence at ADX Florence, a maximum-security prison in Colorado. Inmates at the facility are held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, with only one hour of time outside their cells.

El Chapo's Sinaloa drug cartel remains one of Mexico's most powerful gangs. El Chapo's sons continue to lead a powerful faction of the organization. Ovidio Guzman, one of the drug lord's four sons, was captured by the Mexican military in January and extradited to the United States.

Thanh Danh (According to Reuters )

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