United States of America v. Joaquín Guzmán Loera was a federal criminal court case against Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, a Mexican drug lord and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán was extradited from Mexico to the United States in January 2017, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts against him in Brooklyn, New York. His charges included drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder. His defense asserted that he was not the organized crime leader that the prosecution claimed. The trial, often characterized as a trial of the century, began on November 5, 2018, and lasted until February 12, 2019, when the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts. He was sentenced on July 17, 2019 to a prison term of life.
Indictments and extradition
In the United States, decades of smuggling activities by the Sinaloa Cartel led to indictments of Guzmán and his associates across Chicago, San Diego, New York City, New Hampshire, Miami, and Texas.A look at the extradition process for 'El Chapo' Guzman. Eric Tucker and Alicia A. Caldwell, Business Insider. January 12, 2016.Coming to America: Why the El Chapo extradition could take years. John Bacon, USA Today. January 13, 2016. Charges in the United States included conspiracy to import and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy association, organized crime against health, money laundering, homicide, and possession of firearms.
July 2009 Eastern District of New York indictment Ultimately, Guzmán faced the indictment originating from a July 2009 case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. This indictment's top charge against Guzmán included multiple violations of the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute ("the Kingpin Statute") for the smuggling of thousands of kilograms of cocaine which were intercepted and traced to the Sinaloa Cartel. At the level the Eastern District charged Guzmán, a guilty verdict comes with a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment."" 21 U.S. Code § 848
This 2009 indictment originally charged Guzmán alongside his associate Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, Cartel co-leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García and his brother Jesús "El Rey" Zambada García, as well as brothers Arturo and Héctor Beltrán Leyva of Sinaloa Cartel allies-turned-enemies the Beltrán-Leyva Organization.
Arturo Beltrán Leyva died in a shootout December 2009, and Coronel in similar circumstances in 2010. Mexican authorities captured Héctor Beltrán Leyva in 2014 and held him for their own prosecution until his death in 2018.
Mexican authorities captured Jesús Zambada García in 2008 and extradited him to the United States in 2012. He pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the U.S. government in January 2014. The following year, Mexican authorities captured the son of "El Mayo" Zambada, Vicente Zambada Niebla; he would also agree to cooperate with the U.S. government seeking leniency.
Thus by the fourth (and final) superseding indictment of May 2016, Guzmán's sole codefendant was Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who remained at large until July 2024. El Mayo's good fortune, fueled by Guzmán's lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman among others, that Mayo served up Guzman as a scapegoat.
Capture in Mexico
After a manhunt by Mexican authorities led to an arrest in 2014, escape in 2015, and recapture in 2016, Mexico formally launched a renewed process of extradition to the United States. Lawyers for Guzmán mounted "numerous and creative injunctions" to defend against extradition, and the process was expected to take from one to six years. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto did not have the authority to issue an executive order to immediately extradite Guzmán without due process. A critical requirement for extradition was that the United States's agreement not to seek the death penalty against Guzmán if he was found guilty of homicide charges.Estados Unidos no ejecutará a El Chapo Guzmán si es extraditado. El Comercio, January 12, 2016. (in Spanish).
Guzmán was transferred on May 5, 2016, to a prison near Ciudad Juarez, near the border with Texas, and Mexico expected to extradite him to the United States by February 2017. On October 16, Vicente Antonio Bermúdez Zacarías was assassinated while jogging near Mexico City; he was a federal judge involved in Guzmán's extradition proceedings.
On January 19, 2017, Guzmán was extradited to the U.S. to face charges related to running the Sinaloa cartel. The Mexican Government said in a formal statement, "The government of the Republic announces that today the Fifth Appellate Criminal Court in Mexico City ruled to deny the protection of the Federal Justice system to Joaquín Guzmán Loera against the agreements made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 20, 2016, which permitted his extradition to the United States of America in order to be tried for various crimes, after finding that those agreements complied with constitutional requirements, the requirements of bilateral treaties and other legal rulings that are in effect and that his human rights were not and have not been violated by these proceedings".
Upon his arrival in the United States, Guzmán was housed at the maximum-security wing of the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York.
U.S. court proceedings Over the span of decades, Guzmán was charged in six separate U.S. indictments. The charges included money laundering, drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder in Chicago, Miami, New York and other cities, and with various associates as co-defendants.
Arraignment and bail After arriving in the United States, Guzmán made his first appearance in the Eastern District court on January 20, 2017. At arraignment, Guzmán pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Guzmán, who does not speak English, used a translator at the hearing. He was represented by two federal public defenders at his arraignment hearing. Guzmán subsequently replaced his public defenders with Eduardo Balarezo, William Purpura,Restrictions Make Building a Team of Lawyers a Challenge for El Chapo. The New York Times. November 15, 2018. and Jeffrey Lichtman.Ex-Gotti lawyer rejoins El Chapo legal team. Priscilla DeGregory and Emily Saul. New York Post. August 19, 2018.
Acting United States Attorney General Sally Yates called him the "alleged leader of a multi-billion dollar, multi-national criminal enterprise that funneled drugs onto our streets and violence and misery into our communities". In their memorandum of law arguing for remand, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York introduced evidence of the Sinaloa Cartel's narcotrafficking including photographs of seized drugs, vehicles, and weaponry and stated that, "Given Guzman's prior history, unless Guzman is incarcerated under the strictest security arrangements, the risk of his continued criminal activity is certain." Magistrate Judge James Orenstein ordered Guzmán held awaiting trial.
Pretrial motions Owing to Guzmán's outsized reputation from his time as a fugitive, global and multilingual media coverage, and lurid allegations against Guzmán the trial was dubbed as a "trial of the century."
The jury selection process was agreed to be held in a rare closed session conducted in the judge's private chambers.In El Chapo's Trial, Extraordinary Steps to Keep Witnesses Alive. Alan Feuer, The New York Times. October 1, 2018. Meanwhile, one of Guzmán's three lawyers, Eduardo Balarezo, warned that keeping the jurors' identities secret was not necessary for their safety, and it would jeopardize a fair trial by implying that Guzmán is dangerous and guilty.El Chapo's lawyer says anonymous jury would ‘poison’ shot at fair trial. The Daily World. January 25, 2018.'El Chapo' promises not to kill any jurors, lawyer says. Fox News. January 25, 2018 According to a prosecutor, jurors' anonymity and an armed escort are necessary even if Guzmán is in isolation, due to his history of having jurors and witnesses killed.El Chapo Promises He Won't Have Jurors Swimming With The Fishes. Mischa Pearlman. January 25, 2018. The judge agreed to keep the jurors' anonymity and also to transport them to and from the courthouse by U.S. Marshals and sequestered from the public while in the courthouse.The identities of the jurors in Mexican cartel kingpin 'El Chapo' Guzman's federal trial will be kept secret. Christopher Woody. Business Insider. February 7, 2018. Similarly, the identity of the testifying witnesses was kept secret.Who Will Testify Against El Chapo at Trial?. Alan Feuer, The New York Times. October 9, 2018. The trial was expected to last approximately four months.'El Chapo' case will still start in November. AFP. October 10, 2018.
In a June 26, 2018, courtroom appearance, Guzmán's lawyers hinted at their defense, suggesting that Guzmán may have been merely a lieutenant in the Sinaloa Cartel and not its leader, and requested more information about that possibility from the government through a Brady disclosure.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan first scheduled the trial of Guzmán for September 5, 2018,Judge pushes ‘El Chapo’ trial back to September. Emily Saul, New York Post. January 10, 2018. before rescheduling the trial for the following November.Judge delays start of 'El Chapo' trial by two months. Daniel Uria, UPI. July 16, 2018.
Trial proceedings Guzmán's trial started on November 5, 2018 when jury selection began.
A large security perimeter was placed around the Brooklyn courthouse. Authorities closed the Brooklyn Bridge while transporting Guzmán to the courtroom from his prison cell; they stated they were considering other methods of transportation to alleviate the traffic disruptions, since the trial was expected to last several months. It was confirmed later that week that he was being held at an undisclosed location in Brooklyn from Monday to Friday to avoid the bridge's closure.
Opening arguments began on November 13, 2018,Wanted: 12 People Willing to Serve as Jurors in El Chapo Trial. Alan Feuer, The New York Times. November 2018. with closing arguments taking place on January 31, 2019.
Testimony In total, 56 witnesses testified for the prosecution, including cartel members and federal agents.Prosecution rests in 'El Chapo' trial after calling 56th and final witness. Marta Dhanis, Samuel Chamberlain, and Bryan Llenas. Fox News. January 29, 2019. At least 14 of them were Guzmán's close associates. Among these were cooperating witnesses from the Colombian and Mexican cartels detailing the operations and extent of the narcotics trade: