'El Chapo' lawyers complain about strict
New York jail conditions
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[February 04, 2017]
By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for Mexican
drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman complained on Friday that he was
being subjected to excessive conditions of confinement in a federal jail
and that his wife was not being allowed to visit him.
The arguments came in federal court in Brooklyn at a hearing for Guzman,
who has pleaded not guilty to charges that he ran the world's largest
drug-trafficking organization during a decades-long career. He faces
life in prison if convicted.
Guzman's wife, Emma Coronel, flew from Mexico to attend the hearing, his
second appearance in a U.S. court. His lawyers said the hearing was
first time Coronel had seen Guzman since his surprise extradition two
weeks ago.
Guzman, 59, who has escaped two maximum-security jails in Mexico, is on
23-hour lockdown in a special unit in the federal jail in Manhattan,
according to his lawyers, and has been prevented from seeing Coronel and
his Mexican attorney.
"We understand the need for security but we think it has gone above and
beyond," said Michelle Gelernt, one of Guzman's court-appointed lawyers.
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U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said he would defer to the Federal
Bureau of Prisons to determine what conditions were set and who Guzman
could see, saying the "history of the defendant is somewhat unusual."
"Based on what I know of this case, there are grounds for taking
additional security measures," Cogan said.
Following the hearing, Coronel, 27, a former beauty queen, stood by
Guzman's attorneys as they complained to reporters about jail
restrictions.
Michael Schneider, another of his lawyers, said prosecutors have
questioned Guzman's financial eligibility for court-appointed counsel,
given what they said was his position as the billionaire leader of the
Sinaloa cartel.
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![](../images/020417pics/news_I15.jpg)
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (L) is shown with an interpreter in this
courtroom sketch in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York,
U.S., February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
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Schneider called that position "ridiculous" given that prosecutors
were simultaneously supporting strict jail conditions that have
blocked Guzman from talking to his family, who could help him retain
counsel.
Guzman's cartel allegedly smuggled hundreds of tons of cocaine,
heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines to the United States while
waging war with other cartels, carrying out thousands of murders and
kidnappings and bribing officials.
At the hearing, Guzman's lawyers also sought documents related to
his extradition. Gelernt told reporters the defense is concerned
about the legality of Guzman's extradition to face the Brooklyn
case, which not the subject of the initial U.S. request to Mexico.
Prosecutors have said that after Guzman was extradited to face
indictments in California and Texas, the Mexican government approved
a U.S. request to prosecute him New York.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Bill Trott)
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