A US appeals court on Tuesday rejected a request to reinstate the guilty verdict against Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, which means the former cartel leader will remain in prison for life.
Guzman was indicted in February 2019 on charges of smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over the course of 25 years, as well as operating several illegal money laundering schemes.
After being tried and found guilty, he was sentenced to life in prison, plus 30 years, and ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture.
Guzman’s lawyers asked for a new trial, citing juror misconduct, among other issues.
One of the jurors told the website Vice News that he and others had ignored trial judge Brian Cogan’s ban on them following media coverage of the 11-week trial.
But in a 44-page ruling released Tuesday, Judge John Newman of the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd District rejected the request by Guzman’s attorneys.
“Judge Cogan conducted the three-month trial with diligence and fairness, after issuing a series of meticulously crafted pretrial rulings,” Newsman wrote.
“For the reasons set forth above, the resulting judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED.”
Guzman’s wife, Emma Coronel, was sentenced to three years in prison in the United States in November for drug trafficking and money laundering in association with her husband’s cartel.
