Brooklyn judge pushes back El Chapo’s drug trafficking trial to November
A Brooklyn federal judge has pushed back El Chapo’s drug trafficking trial to allow his defence team more time to analyse the evidence.
Judge Brian Cogan said jury selection will now begin on November 5 in what will be a marathon trial for accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, better known as ‘El Chapo’, and also ‘Shorty’ for his 168cm (5ft6in) stature.
The sides were scheduled to begin choosing a jury on September 5, Cogan adjourned the trial for 60 days “in light of the government’s recent voluminous discovery production”, NY Daily News reports.
El Chapo’s lawyers wanted at least five more months to prepare for the trial, however Brooklyn federal prosecutors said they’d only agree to a 30-day pause on the schedule.
The judge refused to give a “blanket order” blocking prosecutors from using any evidence turned over after a late June date.
El Chapo became Mexico’s top drug kingpin in 2003 after the arrest of his rival Osiel Cárdenas Guillén.
He was considered the “most powerful drug trafficker in the world” by the US Department of the Treasury and from 2009 to 2011 was ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful people in the world.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed El Chapo matched the influence and reach of Pablo Escobar it his peak.
In 2013, the Chicago Crime Commissioned named Guzman “Public Enemy Number One” for the influence of his criminal network in the city however there is no evidence he personally was ever in Chicago. The last person to receive the title was Al Capone in 1930.
El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel transported multi-ton cocaine shipments from Colombia, through Mexico to the US. The cartel also produced, smuggled and distributed Mexican methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy (MDMA) and heroin across North America and Europe.
He was first captured in 1993 in Guatemala, extradited and sentenced to 20 years in prison in Mexico for murder and drug trafficking.
However, El Chapo escaped from the federal maximum-security prison in 2001 after bribing prison guards.
He was arrested a second time by Mexican authorities in Mexico on February 22, 2014 but escape from prison again on July 11, 2015 by existing through a 1.5km tunnel that led to a construction site.
He was recaptured by Mexican marines and Federal Police following a shootout on January 8, 2016 and extradited on January 19, 2017 via aircraft to the US.
When El Chapo was extradited, Judge Cogan pencilled in April 2018 for a trial date, however in January it was moved to September.
Where the trial will take place is still being decided with El Chapo’s team wanting the trial in Manhattan Federal Court.
That is near his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre and would eliminate the need to close the Brooklyn Bridge to shuttle the drug lord to the Brooklyn Courthouse.
His lawyers argue that creates too much of a spectacle and violates his right to a fair trial as the highly visible security measures undertaken to transport El Chapo are “likely to be seen or heard about by innumerable potential and seated jurors”.
The trial could run for three to four months.
