BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CN) - Sending the notorious drug kingpin back to the pen, but this time in the U.S., an anonymous federal jury convicted Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman on Tuesday for his years-long reign over the Sinaloa cartel.
Wrapping up a trial that began in mid-November, the jury delivered their verdict this afternoon as a wintry mix settled in on New York City. The jury deliberated for about 35 hours before convicting the 61-year-old Guzman on all 10 counts. His conviction carries a life sentence.
As U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan read the verdict to the packed courtroom, Guzman stared straight ahead, sitting very still in front of a line of black-suited U.S. marshals. Like her husband, Guzman's wife Emma Coronel did not diverge much from her typical behavior during the long trial. Her eyes cast downward, Coronel moved only occasionally to touch her hair or look at her fingernails. The jurors were solemn. The only sound in the room aside from Cogan’s voice was the rustle of paper as dozens of reporters from outlets around the world flipped pages on their verdict sheets, checking boxes.
When Cogan finished, Guzman craned his neck to look at Coronel, waved, and flashed her a thumbs-up. Dressed in a striking kelly-green blazer, Coronel returned the thumbs-up gesture then crossed her arms over her heart and blew Guzman a kiss. Guzman is under incredibly restrictive terms of confinement, which are expected to stay in place. Today was likely one of the last times he and his wife will ever see each other.
Guzman is set to be sentenced June 25, 2019, at 10 a.m.
In the prelude to the sweeping verdict, U.S. prosecutors mounted an overwhelming case against Guzman. They called more than 50 witnesses, including over a dozen cooperators, who spoke about drugs and weapons they had trafficked, as well as money laundered, with and for El Chapo. They told of their days gifting expensive guns to one another, flying around in private planes and helicopters, and sometimes sampling the drugs they moved.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman vowed to appeal the verdict Tuesday, touting his team’s efforts in a press conference outside the courthouse under a steady fall of freezing rain.
“I don’t think anybody would doubt that we fought like hell,” Lichtman said. “We fought like complete savages and left it all on the battlefield.”
Lichtman blamed the press and the public for perpetuating what he has said are myths that surround Guzman.
“Joaquin Guzman was convicted before we even knew who Joaquin Guzman was,” he said.
Co-counsel William Purpura said the verdict had been one that Guzman expected.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Richard Donoghue spoke to reporters about the verdict as well this afternoon, saying Guzman had been dealt was a sentence from which there was no escape.
“There are those who say the war on drugs is not worth fighting,” Donoghue said. “Those people are wrong.”
Angel Melendez, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations New York, likewise underscored the “resounding message” that he said Guzman’s conviction sends to drug traffickers: “You are not unreachable, you are not untouchable, and your day will come.”
The first count of Guzman’s conviction, a Continuing Criminal Enterprise charge, carried with it 27 violations. Though a conviction on that charge merely required proof of three violations, the jury decided prosecutors had proven 25 of the 27. The two excluded claims pertained to specific cocaine and marijuana distribution charges from 2007 and 2012.
Law enforcement officers testified to participating in massive drug seizures and dramatic missions to capture the kingpin, who has twice escaped high-security Mexican prisons.
