El Chapo sentenced to life in prison: Live updates | CNN (2024)

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years Wednesday. The court also ordered Guzman to pay $12.6 billion in forfeit.

Here’s what else you need to know about his case:

In court today, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was smiling when he came in greeting his lawyers – first asking, “Y mi esposa?” (which means “And my wife?”).

He then saw her at her usual seat in the second row on the right hand side of the court, blew her a kiss, and tapped his hand on his heart twice while looking at her.

Emma Coronel Aispuroreturned the kiss and blew it at him.

Guzman’s voice quivered several times during his statement to the court.

“First of all I want to thank my wife and my children for their unconditional love and support during this long proceeding,” Guzman said.

When Guzman was thanking his wife, she could be seen leaning forward and bending her head down.

On the way out of court after hearing his sentence, Guzman again blew his wife two kisses, which she returned in what could possibly be the moment of their final goodbye.

When asked prior to sentencing if today is the last time Guzman will see his wife, defense attorney William Purpura said, “That’s a good question. The way things stand right now, unfortunately, yes.”

One of El Chapo’s defense attorneys, Jeffrey Lichtman, said this trial was “not justice.” He said to reporters outside the courthouse following Guzman’s sentencing that his client behaved like a gentleman, and that he respects the American justice system.

“All he wanted, and he said to me from day one, ‘I just want a fair trial. You tell me that I can get justice here, I just want a fair trial.’ And at the end of the day, we like to pretend that it was justice—it was not justice. You can’t have a situation where jurors are running around lying, lying to a judge, lying to a judge about what they were doing and learning about allegations that were purposely kept out by the government,” he said.

Lichtman said the trial, and the $12.6 billion El Chapo is required to forfeit, is all part of a show.

“It’s a fiction. It’s part of the show trial that we’re here for,” Lichtman said. “They’ve been looking for his assets for how long, decades?”

When Lichtman was asked about supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado where Guzman is expected to spend the rest of his life, he said, “You can bury Joaquin Guzman under tons of steel in Colorado, and make him disappear, but you’re never going to remove the stink from this verdict due to the failure to order a hearing on the misconduct of the jury in this case”.

More context: The identities of the jurors who decided El Chapo’s fate have remained anonymous for their own safety. But shortly after the verdict, one juror spoke to Vice News anonymously and alleged a wide range of possible juror misconduct, ranging from following news reports about the trial, which was expressly forbidden, to lying to Judge Cogan about whether they’d been exposed to certain media reports.

Cogan denied Guzman’s request for a new trial and a hearing to investigate the claims.

Brian A. Benczkowski, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, called Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s sentencing “a measure of justice” for the US and Mexico.

“Today brings a measure of justice for the American people, it brings a measure of justice for the country of Mexico,” he said at a news conference after the sentencing.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, also spoke:

“This sentence is significant and it is well deserved. It means that never again will Guzman pour poison over our borders, making billions, while innocent lives are lost to drug violence and drug addiction”

Donoghue had a warning for other would-be drug lords.

“The same fate awaits anyone who would seek to take his place,” he said.

Before he was sentenced Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman spoke in court to say the trial was unfair.

“There was no justice here,” he told the court room in Spanish, which was reiterated through an English interpreter

El Chapo spoke about the anonymousjuror who spoke to Vice Media about alleged juror misconduct.

“You didn’t want to bring the jury back,” he said.“You allege that the action of the jury was not important because there was a lot of evidence against me.”

“Why did we go to trial?” he added. “Why not sentence me the first day? The jury was not necessary then.”

El Chapo, wearing a gray suit and dark tie, spoke for about 10 minutes. He also complained about the conditions of his incarceration in New York.

“It’s been torture, the most inhumane situation I have lived in my entire life,” he said of his incarceration.

He added: “It has been physical, emotional and mental torture.”

He also thanked his family and friends and supporters.

El Chapo sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.

A federal judge sentenced Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to lifein prison plus 30 years, according to the US Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York.

The Court also ordered “El Chapo” to pay $12.6 Billion in forfeiture.

Restitution will be determined later.

Before today’s sentencing, attorney Mariel Colon — who has visited Guzman regularly in prison before, during and after his trial — said she is optimistic about his chances on appeal.

Joaquin “El Chapo”Guzman is expected to speak at his sentencing today, according to his attorney William Purpura.

Purpura told CNN Wednesday morning that he thinks Guzman will say he was wrongfully brought to the United States.

“He has an absolute right of allocution, and I’d be shocked if he did not allocute, speak today and I do anticipate he will speak today. I think he’s going to indicate that he was wrongfully brought to the United States, that he was kept in horrific conditions for a long period of time, but also he wanted to thank the guards at MCC for treating him in a humane manner and also the U.S. Marshals for treating him well during trial,” Purpura said.

His attorney continued to say that after the sentencing, Guzman is expected to be transported to a super max federal facility in Florence, Colorado ––the same facility where the Unabomber and Boston bomber are serving their time.

Joaquin “El Chapo”Guzman, 61, was convicted of 10 counts in February. The drug lord who once headed a criminal enterprise that spanned continents and triggered waves of bloodshed throughout his native Mexico.

Here’s the full list of the counts for which he was convicted:

Engaging in a Continuing Criminal EnterpriseInternational Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine and Marijuana Manufacture and Distribution ConspiracyCocaine Importation ConspiracyCocaine Distribution ConspiracyInternational Distribution of CocaineInternational Distribution of CocaineInternational Distribution of CocaineInternational Distribution of CocaineUse of FirearmsConspiracy to Launder Narcotics Proceeds

Joaquin “El Chapo”Guzman, who has been in isolation for two-and-a-half years,is expected to serve out his sentence in the nation’s most secure federal prisonin Florence, Colorado.

“He’s going to Supermax, I’m sure, in Colorado,” Guzman lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman told CNN’s “New Day” the day after he was convicted. “No one has ever escaped. It’s absolutely impossible. It’s not even an issue.”

Where is he now? Until he is transferred, Guzman remains at the Metropolitan Correction Center, a federal prison in Manhattan. He is able to be visited by members of his legal team any day of the week, and is allowed to receive a phone call from his sister every 15-20 days, attorney Mariel Colon said.

But once he is transferred to Colorado, attorney visits may be more limited, she said.

Why Supermax matters: Guzman’s history escaping prison has weighed on prosecutors’ minds, both during his trial and after his conviction. Guzman escaped from Mexican prisons twice.

In 2001 Guzman escaped by hiding in a laundry cart. He spent the next 13 years in hiding in and around his home state of Sinaloa.

He was recaptured in 2014, but he escaped from the Mexican prison a second time, on July 11, 2015, through a tunnel his associates built directly into his cell.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, arrived at the federal court in Brooklyn this morning ahead of her husband’s sentencing.

Guzmán faces life in prison after he was found guilty on ten federal counts in February.

When Mexican drug lordJoaquin “El Chapo”Guzman is sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, it could be the last time the public — and even some members of his family — ever see him in person.

Guzman, 62,was convicted in Februaryby a jury of all 10 counts he faced, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and drug trafficking charges, among others. Prosecutors have called him a “ruthless and bloodthirsty leader” of the Sinaloa cartel and are seeking a life sentence.

Witnesses during the trial testified that Guzman ordered and sometimes took part in the torture and murder of perceived cartel enemies.

Attorney Mariel Colon, who has visited Guzman regularly in prison before, during and after his trial, says she is optimistic about his chances on appeal.

But if the appeal is not successful, “then this will be the last time the public will see El Chapo,” Colon told CNN. “It could be potentially also the last time El Chapo could see his wife.”