EL Chapo - Drug Cartel Chief, arrested for Trafficking, conspiracy, firearms etc. *guilty* #2

[YESorNO]

El Chapo's $12.6B fortune ordered forfeited: What to know about the multibillion-dollar drug empire (with clip)

July 17, 2019

"...For almost 30 years, El Chapo, 62, sold enough drugs to build a massive fortune, even making it onto Forbes list of billionaires for four years in a row, beginning in 2009. During those years, the outlet estimated he was worth at least $1 billion.

According to court papers, the Mexico native was estimated to have handled more than $11 billion worth of cocaine, more than $11 million worth of heroin and $846 million worth of marijuana as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, The New York Times Opens a New Window. reported earlier this month.

Combined, those estimates suggest Guzmán made more than $12.67 billion. On Wednesday, Guzmán was ordered to forfeit that fortune, according to prosecutors.

“It’s ridiculous for the government to think he has all this money,” Guzman’s attorney Mariel Colon Miro told Fox News last week. “The government hasn’t been able to locate a single penny.”...

Mike Vigil, the former chief of international operations for the Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA), told The Telegraph the government’s chances of finding El Chapo’s fortune are “minuscule,” but he believes the drug kingpin definitely has plenty of money somewhere...."

El Chapo's $12.6B fortune ordered forfeited: What to know about the multibillion-dollar drug empire

 

[YESorNO]

The Latest: Lawyer says El Chapo disappointed with trial

July 17, 2019

"NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing of the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo. (all times local):

10:50 a.m.

A defense attorney says the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo is frustrated with the outcome of his U.S. trial.
Attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told reporters Wednesday that Joaquin Guzman is not “a saint” but was denied a fair trial.

Lichtman accused jurors of lying to the judge about their exposure to media reports, saying “half the jury cheated.”
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan denied Guzman’s request for a new trial based on claims of juror misconduct.

Cogan defended that decision Wednesday saying the allegations of juror misconduct were minor compared to the “mountain range of evidence” against Guzman. He described Guzman’s conduct as “evil.”

Guzman was sentenced to life in prison for running a murderous drug-trafficking enterprise that for decades saturated the United States with cocaine and other narcotics.
___

10:40 a.m.

Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman waved to his family and placed his hand over his heart after being sentenced to life in prison.

Joaquin Guzman thanked his family Wednesday for their support throughout his months-long trial.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said their prayers gave him the strength to “bear this torture that I have been under for the past 30 months.”..."

The Latest: Lawyer says El Chapo disappointed with trial

(In this courtroom sketch, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, foreground right, reads a statement through an interpreter during his sentencing in federal court, Wednesday, July 17, 2019, in New York. The Mexican drug kingpin, who was convicted in February 2019 on multiple conspiracy counts in an epic drug-trafficking case, was sentenced to life behind bars in a U.S. prison Wednesday. [Elizabeth Williams via AP])

 

[YESorNO]

In El Chapo's home state, Mexicans bemoan his punishment far from home

18 july 2019

"CULIACAN, Mexico (Reuters) - Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is never going back home to Sinaloa....

In Culiacan, the capital in Mexico's northwestern state of Sinaloa, locals lamented that Mexicans were deprived of the chance to see the notorious capo tried, convicted and punished on his native soil.

"He doesn't stop being Mexican... He should be paying for his sins here in Mexico," said Victor Estrada, who was at a public plaza in Culiacan....

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan has ordered Guzman to forfeit $12.6 billion. He also said Guzman deserved the harshest sentence possible because any potentially redeeming qualities were overshadowed by "overwhelming evil."
Nevertheless, many in Sinaloa treat Guzman as a Robin Hood figure who helped the poor mountain village where he grew up and neighboring communities.

At a Culiacan chapel dedicated to the folk saint of drug smugglers, Jesus Malverde, vendors sell figurines of a mustachioed Guzman wielding a rifle and grenades as well as framed photos of the drug lord, right alongside colorful rosaries and images of Jesus Christ.

"He's had his bad side, but for me he was a good person," said Rafael Morales. "He helped Culiacan a lot... many people love him."

If he had been sent to prison in Mexico, at least his family would be able to visit, noted Karla Arellano, who called the sentencing unjust.

"Whatever he may have done, he helped," she said....

Brianda Lopez said the sentence was fair - and just as harsh as she expected - but agreed with others that Mexico should have had a role in his judgment...."

In El Chapo's home state, Mexicans bemoan his punishment far from home

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 19h19 hours ago
This is a fantastic piece by @alanfeuer on the mystery woman who spoke today at El Chapo’s sentencing https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/nyregion/el-chapo-andrea-velez.html …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 19h19 hours ago
Note: @alanfeuer suggests Andrea Velez might not be her real name. She also hinted at this during her remarks today, saying her relationship with Chapo caused her to lose “everything, even my identity.”

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 8h8 hours ago
Check out @nprfreshair this morning to hear me discuss El Chapo’s sentencing with @NPRinskeep.
Here’s how it went down yesterday:

El Chapo Sentenced to Life in Prison


Keegan Hamilton Retweeted
Lauren Bobek‏ @laurenbobek 8h8 hours ago
With the conclusion to El Chapo’s trial and sentence now handed down, we're in the studio with @vicenews senior reporter @keegan_hamilton taking to @NPRinskeep about the final turn of events, for @NPR @MorningEdition – at NPR

Morning Edition, Keegan Hamilton, VICE News and NPR


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 5h5 hours ago
“It’s fantastic that we have fewer deaths, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not sure it’s an indication that the opioid problem per se is diminishing. It’s just that we have greater availability of the drugs that will keep us alive.”

Number of US overdose deaths appears to be falling

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 3h3 hours ago
I have a source confirming this report by @Emily_Saul_ that El Chapo was shipped off to "The Alcatraz of the Rockies" yesterday immediately after his sentencing

El Chapo is already on his way to supermax prison

July 17, 2019

"Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Shorty.

The feds wasted no time in getting rid of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman — tossing the Mexican druglord into a helicopter to start his journey to the supermax prison in Colorado almost immediately after he was sentenced to life plus 30 years behind bars, The Post has learned.

“He went from a helicopter to a plane,” an astounded source revealed Wednesday evening. “He’s no longer in the state.”

The speedy departure occurred despite a request from Guzman’s defense team that their client be allowed to remain in New York City for 60 days so they could work on his appeal.

Following the request from attorneys Jeffrey Lichtman and Mark Fernich, Brooklyn federal judge Brian Cogan said he would recommend the Mexican kingpin be allowed to head back to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he’s been held since he was extradited to New York in 2017.

But instead of heading back to his cell, Guzman was escorted into a chopper and whisked away.

“He’s either already arrived in Colorado, or he’s still in route,” the source said."

https://nypost.com/2019/07/17/el-chapo-is-already-on-his-way-to-supermax-prison/

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 1h1 hour ago
Here's a former warden at ADX Florence describing where Chapo might be housed in the prison: A special unit called "Range 13," where he would be completely isolated from other inmates.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 1h1 hour ago
Here's a description of Range 13 at ADX, also known as Z Unit, from a story about Tommy Silverstein, a notorious prisoner who died earlier this year after spending more than 30 years in solitary confinement https://www.westword.com/news/the-caged-life-5094837 … via @Alanprend

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 1h1 hour ago
Another possibility is that Chapo will be sent to "H Unit" at ADX. It's for inmates on SAMs, which limit an inmate's contact with the outside world to lawyers and close relatives. As @Alanprend writes here, it's "another level of hell altogether."
https://www.westword.com/news/h-unit-at-colorados-federal-supermax-is-a-special-sort-of-hell-10496356 …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 1h1 hour ago
Some ADX inmates on SAMs have gone on hunger strike to protest the conditions. The prison has responded by force-feeding them. This story by @stahlidarity details the horrors of that process, and includes a diagram of what Chapo's cell might look like:
https://www.thenation.com/article/force-feeding-prison-supermax-torture/ …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 1h1 hour ago
A lawyer who has worked with clients at ADX told me this about Chapo's fate on SAMs in H Unit: "Dude is . Very, very ."

 

[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 4h4 hours ago
The judge noted that life and thirty years was fair, given that Chapo scored 66 points out of a max of 43 in sentencing guidelines “so it gets taken down because we are so far above.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
Chapo’s sentence for the 10 charges is as follows:
-Counts #1-8 = life imprisonment
-Count 9 =another 30 years
-Count 10 = another 240 months (but that runs at the same time as his life sentence, so it doesn’t really count)


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
“The trial record speaks for itself,” Judge Cogan said in sentencing Chapo to 30 years beyond life. He explained that “despite the fact that he may be a good father” with “other good attributes,” in the end “the overwhelming evil is so severe.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
In addition to the sentence of life plus 30 years, the judge in Chapo’s case found the government’s calculations of $12.7 billion forfeiture to be “reasonable.” Restitution must be decided within 90 days.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
When the judge addressed the court and explained his sentencing decision, he spoke with an attitude my Southern grandmother would only described as “smart-allecky.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
The defense asked that Chapo stay in Manhattan for 60 days while appeal is considered. The judge deferred to the US Marshals and Bureau of Prisons. He is expected to then be moved to ADX super-max in Florence, Colorado.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
After sentencing, Chapo waved and sent a kiss to his wife, Emma Coronel. Emma, dressed in black pants and vest and nude stilettos, leaned across the bench, watching as him escorted out. Emma doesn’t have visitation rights, so this may be the last time they see each other.


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
What does Chapo’s sentencing mean? Depends on who you ask. -Richard P. Donoghue: “It means that never again will Mr. Guzmán pour poison over our borders.”

-@NYCDefenseLaw, Chapo’s attorney: “All he wanted was justice and at the end of the day he didn’t get it.”


Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 3h3 hours ago
CORRECTION: I was mistaken, this was not Andrea pictured in this photograph. Chapo is, however, the guy on the left.

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 18h18 hours ago
I have been reminded by @balarezolaw that the appeal itself is not due in two weeks, merely a notice of appeal. I'd like to think I wouldn't have made that error if not for running on 28 hours straight no sleep (now 32) but I can't be sure. Anyway, here's to paperwork. Night <3

 

[YESorNO]

Noah Hurowitz‏Verified account @NoahHurowitz 24h24 hours ago
Me on day one of the Chapo trial vs me now

 

[YESorNO]

Chasing El Chapo cost U.S. a fortune. Was it money well spent? (with clip)

JULY 17, 2019

"...While it's difficult to parse individual responsibility and determine exactly how much Guzman has cost the United States in law enforcement, incarceration, healthcare and other expenses, the effort to bring him to justice, and the ripple effects of his illegal activity, have been costly.

U.S. government: $50 billion annually fighting drugs

The U.S. government spends roughly $50 billion per year on drug prohibition enforcement efforts, about $20 billion to $30 billion of which is used to enforce cocaine and heroin prohibition, according to Jeffery Miron, director of the department of economics at Harvard University and the author of the report entitled "The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition."

"You obviously can't attribute that all to El Chapo or even the Mexican drug cartels, because some of it comes from China," Miron said.

The drug kingpin has also denied being responsible for all illicit activity ascribed to the cartel, which experts say has a hub-and-spoke business model rather than a hierarchical structure.

And so calculating the United States' expenditure on El Chapo is not an exact science, and even experts' estimates are at best speculative.

"We can count up how much we spend, but it's messy, and attributing it to any one drug or any cartel is really speculative and doesn't answer the most policy-relevant question which is about who created the policies, and what would happen if they changed," Miron told CBS MoneyWatch.

The largest drug cartel in the world...

As for the $12.6 billion the U.S. is demanding as part of the drug lord's sentence, experts say the money has long been hidden by Guzman's extensive network of family members and co-conspirators.

"They are not going to get a single cent of that because it was hidden by his kids and former wives long ago, before he was arrested," Bagley said. "They'll never get it back.""

Chasing El Chapo cost U.S. a fortune. Was it money well spent?

 

[YESorNO]

Mexican To Seek Return of "Chapo" Guzman's Drug Money

July 18, 2019

"MEXICO CITY - Mexico's president says he will use legal channels to try to get the fortune of convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman returned to Mexico.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday the money is Mexican, and would be used for anti-poverty programs.

Lopez Obrador said Mexico has erred in the past by allowing the U.S. to seize money in corruption and criminal cases against Mexican suspects.

U.S. officials have estimated Guzman's fortune at $14 billion and a judge ordered Guzman to pay $12.6 billion as part of his U.S. life sentence announced Wednesday. That was money his drug-trafficking organization made distributing drugs in the United States.

But in the past, U.S. officials haven't said how they intend to get their hands on Guzman's money."

Mexican To Seek Return of "Chapo" Guzman's Drug Money

 

[YESorNO]

Mexican president calls El Chapo’s life sentence in US jail ‘inhumane’
Andrés Manuel López Obrador also vowed to bring down violence stemming from drug violence

18 Jul 2019

"President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico has called the jail conditions of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán inhumane, while vowing to bring down violence stemming from drug violence by creating a society less obsessed with material wealth....

At his regular morning conference on Thursday, López Obrador said that sentences like Guzmán’s – “a sentence for life in a hostile jail, hard, inhumane” – made a life no longer worth living.

But López Obrador also criticized the violence Guzmán wrought over his long career, and said society needed moral reforms.

“I also have many victims in mind,” he added. “It’s something very painful.“

López Obrador has created a new militarized police force to bring down violence that has spiraled as cartels splinter and smaller groups fight for territory....

Forbes magazine once listed Guzmán as one of the world’s richest men. López Obrador said Mexico would explore whether there would be legal ways for Mexico to claim Guzmán’s assets.

“These resources, these assets legally belong to Mexico and the matter will be considered on a legal basis,” López Obrador said. “I believe that the United States will agree.”"

Mexican president calls El Chapo’s life sentence in US jail ‘inhumane’

 

[YESorNO]

'El Chapo' enters US supermax prison in Colorado

20/07/2019

"New York (AFP)
Fallen Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was locked up Friday at the ADX federal maximum security prison in the US state of Colorado, where he will spend the rest of his days.

"We can confirm that... Guzman is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons" at the Administrative Maximum (ADX) site in Florence, central Kansas, read a short email from the prisons bureau...."

'El Chapo' enters US supermax prison in Colorado

Adios El Chapo.

 

[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 18h18 hours ago
What was it like reporting on El Chapo's trial? Still in detox after our sentencing reunion Wednesday, I wrote about the four-month experience, complete with courthouse campouts and @SeishinNY's infallible "Lista." Read on for @alanfeuer's narco nickname:

Before El Chapo’s Sentencing, a Campout for Reporters


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 17h17 hours ago
Shout-out to @emilyepalmer for this piece about the insane process of covering El Chapo's trial and sentencing. Photo shows her, me, and @luoach camped out in the courthouse vestibule in Brooklyn in late January, when it was well below freezing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/21/reader-center/el-chapo-verdict-sentencing-campout.html …

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 17h17 hours ago
And yes, this really happened: A journalist arrived at 6pm the night before Chapo's sentencing but missed getting a spot in the courtroom because they ducked out of line for coffee…

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 17h17 hours ago
I had planned to arrive at the courthouse last Wednesday morning at 4am (for a 9:15am sentencing) but got a message from @vsancho at 10:30pm the night before saying the line was filling up. Ran there from my hotel nearby and was among the last to get a seat inside the courtroom.

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 16h16 hours ago
Find me a more dedicated bunch of reporters

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 16h16 hours ago
Also shout-out to @SeishinNY, La Reina de la Lista, who helped the press corps maintain order amid the Chapo chaos. Here’s her check-in list from day 1 of the trial.

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 16h16 hours ago
And lastly, there’s a person under that purple fleece and it’s @emilyepalmer sleeping outside in January for Chapo. I don’t know what @nytimes is paying her but it’s definitely not enough.

To all the El Chapo trial reporters: Thank y'all

 

[YESorNO]

It's Game of Thrones in Cartel Land Now That El Chapo's in Prison for Life
In Mexico, his sons could struggle to survive.

Jul 22 2019

"As Mexican drug lord Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzmán was condemned to life in prison in a New York courtroom last week, fresh conflict was brewing back in his home state between factions of the criminal organization he led, the Sinaloa Cartel...."

It's Game of Thrones in Cartel Land Now That El Chapo's in Prison for Life

 

[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer 16h16 hours ago
The Bureau of Prisons has updated their database to include El Chapo at ADX. Well, a version of him is there, at least. Not sure who Joaquín "Archival" Guzmán is ... But the BOP confirmed to me Friday that Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera had made it to the supermax.

 

[YESorNO]

El Chapo appeals life sentence for decades-long reign over drug cartel

July 22, 2019

"...Defense lawyer Mark Fernich filed the notice of appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Thursday, a day after the 62-year-old crime kingpin was sentenced in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn.

Guzman claimed during sentencing that he had received an unfair trial that was tainted by juror misconduct — referring to an article that said several members of the jury violated a court order by reading news reports and social media posts about the case...."

https://nypost.com/2019/07/22/el-ch...ence-for-decades-long-reign-over-drug-cartel/