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

[YESorNO]

Rich future of El Chapo’s beauty queen wife

February 15, 2019

"When the wife of notorious drug lord El Chapo learnt that her husband had been convicted of trafficking vast quantities of cocaine into the United States and was likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars, her reaction was magnificently calm.

“Nobody’s dead,” Emma Coronel Aispuro told those fussing around her, waving away tissues as she swept out of the New York courtroom in which she has spent much of the past three months.

The 29-year-old Kim Kardashian lookalike is known for her sanguine demeanour, and has become a magnet for hordes of paparazzi who routinely surrounded her outside Brooklyn’s US Federal Court as she loyally stood by her husband, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

“I’ve never seen her cry,” Mariel Colon Miro, the junior lawyer who became close to Ms Coronel during the sensational trial, told news.com.au. “She’s very, very strong and a very intelligent woman. I think a lot of people underestimate her.

“I kind of took on the role of helping her here in New York. This is a person who, she has nobody in New York, she comes here just to support, like a loving wife, support her husband for three months with no family, not even knowing the language.”

Now the trial of the century is over, the former beauty queen is heading back home to Mexico to see family, friends and her twin daughters, and check on her land and business interests.

The drug lord’s wife lives a lavish lifestyle, born into a family of Sinaloa cartel members, and marrying a man who made an estimated $14 billion as head of the powerful criminal enterprise. And she has big plans for the future, with Ms Miro saying she could be back in the US within the year to pursue some secret “projects”...."

No Cookies | The Weekly Times

(Ms Coronel, who reportedly met El Chapo when he helped her win a local pageant at the age of 17, was accused by one witness of helping him escape from prison.)
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[YESorNO]

El Chapo's beauty queen mistress was kidnapped by the Mexican drug lord and should not be jailed for life say lawyers

16 February 2019

"Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez, 29, was found guilty of conspiracy to import drugs

She faces live in prison following the three-month trial in New York City

A lawyer for the kidnapped mistress of Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman has urged judges to be lenient with the 29-year-old beauty queen who faces a lifetime behind bars.

El Chapo's wife Emma Coronel Aispuro, 29, attended her husband's trial and watched from the public gallery. She was not charged with any offence and is considering returning to Mexico following her husband's trial in New York.

However, his mistress, Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez, 29, who was kidnapped by El Chapo's Sicarios on the crime lord's orders, is facing a life sentence. ..."

El Chapo's beauty queen mistress should be shown mercy | Daily Mail Online

(Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez)
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[YESorNO]

The US got 'El Chapo' Guzman - now it has to get his $14 billion

FEB 16, 2019

"Mexican kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was convicted in New York this week.

That almost certainly ends Guzman's decades-long career, but his ill-gotten profits are still out there.

US prosecutors say they want to confiscate $14 billion from Guzman, but they have to find it first....

A 2016 indictment naming Guzman and fellow cartel leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada said that upon conviction on the first count - running a continuing criminal enterprise - the US would seek proceeds or property obtained through or used for that enterprise, "including but not limited to at least approximately ... $14 billion."

Government requests for money from convicted ring-leaders aren't unusual. Other kingpins have been ordered to fork over substantial sums.

Upon pleading guilty in 2010, former Gulf cartel leader Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who Guzman may soon join at ADX Florence, was ordered to forfeit $50 million.

In 2017, Alfredo Beltran Leyva, one-time leader of the Beltran Leyva Organization, was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to forfeit $529 million - reduced from the US government's $10 billion request.

In November, Vicente Zambada-Niebla - the son of "El Mayo" Zambada and a witness against Guzman - agreed to forfeit $1.37 billion as part of two plea deals.

The $14 billion the government expects from Guzman is the highest value yet assigned to his criminal activities, but it's not clear how prosecutors arrived at that number or if that money even exists.

'There's definitely money'

The $14 billion was "the cumulative amount of money based on his drug-trafficking enterprise, but [US prosecutors] never really spelled out what the $14 billion comes from," Duncan Levin, a former assistant US attorney who focused on money laundering and asset forfeiture, told Business Insider.

"The US government is going to seek a forfeiture judgment against him in the amount of money that they estimate is the proceeds of his offense," said Levin, now a managing partner at the law firm Tucker Levin. "Whether he's worth it or not, whether he can pay for it or not, is almost immaterial."..."

The US got 'El Chapo' Guzman - now it has to get his $14 billion

(Cash seized by Mexico's army, which Mexican authorities said was seized from the Sinaloa cartel, on display in Mexico City, September 18, 2008.[AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo])
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[YESorNO]

'El Chapo's' brother, cartel are focus of federal investigation in Southern Arizona

Feb 16, 2019

"The trial of the notorious drug kingpin known as “El Chapo” wrapped up last week in New York City, but the federal investigation of his brother and the Sinaloa Cartel rolls on in Southern Arizona.

While Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera awaits sentencing after being convicted of numerous charges related to running the cartel, federal agents believe his brother Aureliano Guzman Loera, known as “El Guano,” is running an extensive drug-trafficking operation in northern Mexico, Arizona and Texas, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson...."

'El Chapo's' brother, cartel are focus of federal investigation in Southern Arizona
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 6h6 hours ago
Had a great convo w/ @cmoraff about how El Chapo the Sinaloa cartel are supplying most of the fentanyl consumed in the US. Take a listen and follow @ZachWritesStuff @filth_filler and the @Narcocast crew for more smart, nuanced coverage of the drug trade:

Episode 12: Beyond Borders — “El Chapo” and the Mexican Fentanyl Pipeline


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 6h6 hours ago
For more on fentanyl in Sinaloa, check out my piece @vicenews last month about how the rise of fentanyl has caused opium gum prices to plummet in the Sierra Madre mountain region where El Chapo was born

How the Sinaloa cartel is using Chinese chemicals to fuel America’s opioid crisis


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 6h6 hours ago
This piece by @mexicoreporter adds a new wrinkle to the fentanyl story: Sinaloa cartel cooks are apparently importing precursor chemicals from Germany in addition to China. I'd heard a rumor about this but was never able to confirm.

In El Chapo's Mexico, Fentanyl Is the New Boom Drug
Despite the drug lord's take down, the narco-trade in Sinaloa is thriving as producers shift from heroin to deadly opioids.

Feb 18 2019

"CARTEL CHRONICLES is an ongoing series of dispatches from the front lines of the drug war in Latin America...."

In El Chapo's Mexico, Fentanyl Is the New Boom Drug

(Opium paste oozing out of poppies. Photo by the author)


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 6h6 hours ago
Episode 5 of our @vicenews Chapo podcast also includes interviews with poppy farmers who describe how fentanyl has upended Sinaloa's narco economy

EP 5: The Fugitive


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 6h6 hours ago
The final post-trial episode of our podcast is coming very soon. It will include details on what it was like inside the courtroom and in El Chapo's hometown when the guilty verdict was read. Stay tuned @vicenews…
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[YESorNO]

Emily Palmer‏Verified account @emilyepalmer Feb 14
And what happens to Emma now that Chapo’s sentence is sealed? A few thoughts with @abcnews.

(video clip: Emily Palmer on Twitter )

 

[YESorNO]

Amanda Ottaway‏ @amandaottaway Feb 15
1/ Reporters are not the story. BUT the dozens of intrepid journalists who covered the El Chapo trial in Brooklyn, which ended this week, reeeallly deserve a shoutout.


Amanda Ottaway‏ @amandaottaway Feb 15
2/ These people slept outside the courthouse in sleeping bags to secure a spot in the courtroom and bring the news to the public. They worked 10, 15, 17-hour days for three months. They squished themselves into wooden benches and took notes by hand 6 hours a day, 4 days a week.


Amanda Ottaway‏ @amandaottaway Feb 15
3/ These reporters, who work for all kinds of outlets all over the world, were constantly exhausted, but endlessly kind. They bought each other coffee and bagels. They checked quotes and facts with each other, asked questions, ran ideas by new colleagues in multiple languages.


Amanda Ottaway‏ @amandaottaway Feb 15
4/ Mil gracias, a mis colegas increíbles. It was an absolute pleasure to work with and learn from you all. Thank you for making me a better journalist. I miss you already! Abrazos.

(Amanda Ottaway- Courthouse News)

(Keegan Hamilton- Vice News)

(Emily Palmer- NY Times)

(Emily Saul- NY Post)

(Alan Feuer- NY Times)

 

[YESorNO]

For all the tweeting reporter's hard work:

 

[YESorNO]

Telemundo Exclusive: “El Chapo’s” Wife Speaks Out Amid Trial

February 17, 2019

"Emma Coronel Aispuro yearns for a calm life.

“(I want) to be calm, to be somewhere in the world where we can be at ease […] I don’t dream of big things,” said the 29-year-old former beauty queen. “Tranquility, happiness, nothing out of the ordinary”.

But that is not the life she has had.

Coronel, the wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, now lives a life closely followed in the public eye and the trial of her husband, currently in federal courts in New York has led to unprecedented public interest inside and outside the United States, not only because of the charges against him, but also because of the legend behind the famous kingpin who is said to be the leader of the most powerful cartel in Mexico.

Emma Coronel blames the media for her husband’s fame but she also thinks it’s necessary for transparency...."

Telemundo Exclusive: “El Chapo’s” Wife Speaks Out Amid Trial | Parker City News

 

[DarkDefender67]

I’m glad they caught him!

 

[YESorNO]

I’m glad they caught him!

I hope they don't lose him.....

 

[YESorNO]

Former Supermax Prison Warden Robert Hood Discusses Where El Chapo will be Held

Feb 19, 2019

 

[YESorNO]

Published report: El Chapo juror read social media coverage
Keegan Hamilton, a reporter for Vice News who covered and tweeted extensively about the 2-1/2 month trial, said he was contacted by a juror the day after the trial.

February 20, 2019

"A juror in the trial of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera admitted to extensive discussions among members of the Brooklyn federal court panel about social media coverage of the case according to a news report Wednesday that could provide a basis for challenging last week’s guilty verdict.

Keegan Hamilton, a reporter for Vice News who covered and tweeted extensively about the 2-1/2 month trial, said he was contacted by a juror the day after the trial and told, “You know how we were told we can’t look at the media during the trial? Well, we did.”

The Vice story said the juror said “several people” followed the coverage on social media, and also talked about the case among themselves prior to the start of deliberations, which is prohibited to make sure jurors don’t reach conclusions before the evidence is complete.

“The judge said, ‘You can’t talk about the case among each other,’ but we broke that rule a bunch of times,” the juror said.
Social media coverage of the trial included not only testimony inside the courtroom, but court papers revealing information that was not revealed at trial — such as a government witness’ claim that Guzman purchased sex from 13-year-old girls.

The juror told Vice that five jurors and two alternates had heard about those allegations, and they saw tweets reporting that U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan planned to ask them whether they had been exposed to publicity about the sex with minors after it came out in news reports.

“I had told them if you saw what happened in the news, just make sure that the judge is coming in and he’s gonna ask us, so keep a straight face. So he did indeed come to our room and ask us if we knew, and we all denied it, obviously,” said the juror.

The juror also told Vice he didn’t think that allegation factored into the verdict — “it was just like a five-minute talk” — and said jurors lied to Cogan because they were afraid they’d get into trouble.

“I thought we would get arrested,” the juror said, according to Vice. “I thought they were going to hold me in contempt…. I didn’t want to say anything or rat out my fellow jurors. I didn’t want to be that person. I just kept it to myself, and I just kept on looking at your Twitter feed.”

The revelations alarmed Guzman’s lawyers, who are likely to seek a hearing from Cogan.

"Obviously we're deeply concerned that the jury may have utterly ignored the judge's daily admonitions against reviewing the unprecedented press in the case,” said defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman.

“More disturbing is the revelation that the jury may have lied to the court about having seen some deeply prejudicial, uncorroborated and inadmissible allegations against Mr. Guzman on the eve of jury deliberations,” he added. “Above all, Joaquin Guzman deserved a fair trial."...

The juror also said that the verdict took six days to reach because one juror was a holdout, and several sympathized with Guzmán and were concerned that he was likely to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement."

Published report: El Chapo juror read social media coverage | Newsday
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[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 5h5 hours ago
For the first time since El Chapo's conviction, a juror has spoken out about what it was like to be a part of the case. Read the full story @vicenews:

Inside El Chapo’s jury: A juror speaks for first time about convicting the kingpin

Feb 20, 2019

"This story has been updated to include comments from El Chapo's defense attorneys.

For the first time since the trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán ended on Feb. 12, a member of the jury has described what it was like be part of the historic case.

In an exclusive interview with VICE News, the juror claimed that at least five fellow jurors violated the judge’s orders by following the case in the media during the trial. The juror also shared details of the deliberations, the extraordinary security precautions that were in place, and the jury’s views on Chapo, his lawyers, the prosecution, and several key witnesses.

The juror requested anonymity “for obvious reasons” and declined to provide a real name, noting that the jurors didn’t even share their identities with one another. They did form friendships, though, and referred to one another by their numbers or used nicknames based on tastes and personalities. The cast included Crash, Pookie, Doc, Mountain Dew, Hennessy, Starbucks, Aruba, TJ, 666, FeFe, and Loco.

“We were saying how we should have our own reality TV show, like ‘The Jurors on MTV’ or something like that,” the juror said....

I was a regular at the trial, and I recognized the juror from my time in the courtroom. The juror shared detailed notes taken during the trial, which were kept against the instructions of the court. Information from the jury selection process provided further corroboration about the juror’s role in the case....

Judge Brian Cogan routinely admonished the jurors to avoid news coverage and social media, and to refrain from discussing the case with each other, so that the verdict could be decided only on evidence from the courtroom. Those rules were routinely broken, according to the juror: “You know how we were told we can't look at the media during the trial? Well, we did. Jurors did.”...

If multiple jurors were indeed reading about the case in the media, Chapo’s defense team could seek a new trial....

“The juror’s allegations of the jury’s repeated and widespread disregard and contempt for the Court’s instructions, if true, make it clear that Joaquín did not get a fair trial,” Balarezo said in a statement. “The information apparently accessed by the jury is highly prejudicial, uncorroborated and inadmissible — all reasons why the Court repeatedly warned the jury against using social media and the internet to investigate the case.”


Balarezo added that the defense team “will review all available options before deciding on a course of action.”..."

Inside El Chapo’s jury: A juror speaks for first time about convicting the kingpin

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 5h5 hours ago
Keegan Hamilton Retweeted BALAREZO LAW

First public response from one of El Chapo's lawyers…

---BALAREZO LAW‏ @balarezolaw
Fair trial? #freechapo ⁦@balarezolaw⁩
7:13 AM - 20 Feb 2019


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 4h4 hours ago
The person I spoke with said several jurors followed my Chapo coverage on Twitter, so here goes:

If you were a juror and want to share your side of this story, email me at [email protected] or DM me for my number on Signal.


Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Statement from Chapo’s lawyer @NYCDefenseLaw…

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 2h2 hours ago
Keegan Hamilton Retweeted Noah Hurowitz

Here's another statement from Lichtman where he says the defense is "researching the issue now and will make any appropriate motions for relief."

----Noah Hurowitz‏Verified account @NoahHurowitz
Statement from one of El Chapo’s lawyers Jeffrey Lichtman on the news from @keegan_hamilton that jurors routinely ignored Judge Cohan’s orders by reading news/social media coverage of the case during the trial
9:35 AM - 20 Feb 2019

 

[YESorNO]

Keegan Hamilton‏Verified account @keegan_hamilton 36m36 minutes ago
Statement just released by @balarezolaw about the El Chapo juror interview @vicenews…

 

[YESorNO]

Noah Hurowitz‏Verified account @NoahHurowitz 3h3 hours ago
One thing that's really striking: Not only did jurors break their oath and ignore Judge Cogan's admonition by reading coverage of the case, they even used the knowledge they got from doing so to avoid getting caught

Noah Hurowitz‏Verified account @NoahHurowitz 2h2 hours ago
my jaw is still on the floor about so much of what this juror told Keegan. Like the fact that they instantly learned of inadmissible information by using a smart watch to check the internet — members of the public weren't even allowed to bring smart watches into the gallery

Noah Hurowitz‏Verified account @NoahHurowitz 2h2 hours ago
another fascinating detail: methods the jurors used to speak about the case with one another, despite constant admonitions from Judge Cogan not to discuss the proceedings https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/vbwzny/inside-el-chapos-jury-a-juror-speaks-for-first-time-about-convicting-the-kingpin …

Noah Hurowitz‏Verified account @NoahHurowitz 30m30 minutes ago
Another thing that struck me: Despite the breaches of protocol, these jurors took so seriously the weight of their decision. They considered the human-rights implications of solitary, AKA torture, even for a guy like El Chapo.

Noah Hurowitz‏Verified account @NoahHurowitz 29m29 minutes ago
Contrast that with Judge Cogan, who at one point interrupted @NYCDefenseLaw to dispute a claim, that Lichtman was quoting, about El Chapo having been tortured. Chapo was held for more than a year in extreme solitary confinement. Which is torture. Cogan didn't seem to agree!
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[YESorNO]

Alan Feuer‏ @alanfeuer 32m32 minutes ago
Chapo’s lawyer, Eduardo Balarezo, has already released a statement calling the issues raised “deeply concerning and distressing.” The juror’s claims, if true, “make it clear that Joaquin did not get a fair trial,” Balarezo said.

Molly Crane-Newman‏Verified account @molcranenewman 5h5 hours ago
Every man, woman and child was reading @keegan_hamilton’s Twitter feed during the trial — including... THE JURORS! This is wild.



Amanda Ottaway‏ @amandaottaway 4h4 hours ago
A juror from the El Chapo trial talked to @keegan_hamilton. And shared jury's nicknames for the lawyers, like "two bald guys and Lichtman." And jurors' nicknames for each other. And said jurors were "constantly" reading the news/Twitter during the trial.



Emily Saul‏ @Emily_Saul_ 4h4 hours ago
Emily Saul Retweeted Keegan Hamilton

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#ElChapo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inside El Chapo’s jury: A juror speaks for first time about convicting the kingpin
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[YESorNO]

Jeffrey Lichtman‏ @NYCDefenseLaw 36m36 minutes ago
Jurors shouldn't have lied to the judge in a case as important as this one -- or any trial at all, and shouldn't ignore court orders. Joaquin Guzman deserved a fair trial. We will keep working to ensure that he does.

High tensions, secret social media scrolling: Behind the scenes of the El Chapo jury

February 20, 2019

"Jurors seated on the historic trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman routinely ignored the court’s instructions by checking Twitter and reading reports about the case — and two members even got into such a furious argument that US marshals had to intervene, one of the panelists says in a new bombshell report....

The juror also revealed that tensions got so high at one point during the six days of deliberations that a US marshal had to break up an argument over “personal space in the jury room.”

Asked if the juror’s allegations could bolster Guzman’s appeal of the conviction, his defense attorney didn’t rule it out — and lamented that the jurors weren’t questioned more thoroughly.

“This is why we were basically begging the judge to question the jurors individually regarding the awful allegations made against Mr. Guzman right before jury deliberations,” attorney Jeffrey Lichtman told The Post. “We’ll do the research and appropriate motions will be filed.”

The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District declined to comment."

https://nypost.com/2019/02/20/high-...hecks-behind-the-scenes-of-the-el-chapo-jury/

 

[YESorNO]

'El Chapo' lawyers may challenge conviction over juror remarks

20 February 2019

"NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may file a motion challenging his conviction on 10 criminal counts, after a juror told Vice News that jurors read media coverage of the case and discussed it with one another while the trial was going on, one of Guzman's lawyers said on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had instructed jurors not to read media coverage of the case or discuss it with one another at the end of every day during the nearly three-month trial that led to Guzman's convictions in Brooklyn federal court last week....
Despite the judge's instructions, an anonymous juror in an interview with Vice News published on Wednesday said that he or she and multiple other jurors routinely looked at Twitter posts from journalists covering the case.

The juror said that multiple jurors lied when Cogan asked them directly whether they had read specific media reports related to the case, according to Vice News.

The juror also claimed that the deliberations stretched on for six days because of a single holdout who was uncertain about the charges, and that two jurors essentially refused to take part in the process, Vice News reported.

The juror said that although they were ultimately convinced of Guzman's guilt, some were reluctant to send him to what is likely to be lifelong solitary confinement.

As part of the extraordinary security measures surrounding the trial, jurors were brought to and from court each day by armed U.S. marshals, and their names were never made public. Prosecutors said the measures were necessary because of Guzman's history of intimidating witnesses...."

'El Chapo' lawyers may challenge conviction over juror remarks
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El Chapo's lawyers concerned by juror misconduct allegations

Feb 20, 2019

"NEW YORK (AP) — El Chapo's lawyers on Wednesday raised concerns of potential juror misconduct after a member of the jury at the Mexican drug lord's trial told a news website that several jurors looked at media coverage of the case against a judge's orders.

The juror told VICE News that at least five members of the jury at Joaquin Guzman's trial followed news reports and Twitter feeds about the case and were aware of potentially prejudicial material that jurors weren't supposed to see....

Guzman's lawyer, Eduardo Balarezo, said the issued raised in the VICE article "are deeply concerning and distressing."...

VICE reported that the juror spoke to its reporter via video chat for two hours. The juror requested anonymity and would not provide a name to the reporter. The reporter said he recognized the juror from the trial.

The juror told VICE at least five jurors involved in deliberations and two alternates heard about allegations that Guzman drugged and raped underage girls, even though that evidence was kept out of the trial because it was seen as prejudicial.

The allegations, made public on the eve of deliberations, appeared in news coverage and tweets about the case. The juror said the revelations didn't seem to factor into Guzman's guilty verdict, VICE reported.

"That didn't change nobody's mind for sure," the juror said, according to VICE. "We weren't really hung up on that. It was just like a five-minute talk and that's it, no more talking about that.""

El Chapo's lawyers concerned by juror misconduct allegations
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