NEW YORK.- In a new letter sent to the Eastern District Court in New York, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera asks to annul his conviction for drug trafficking and order his return to Mexico, due to alleged irregularities in his trial and in his extradition process.
“My name is Joaquín Guzmán from the country of Mexico who fights for my protection policy to obtain my release in relation to the erroneous verdict of the Eastern courts (sic),” says the letter in English. “I am writing on my behalf that the courts violated my evidence policy.”
The letter presents several syntax and spelling errors that make it difficult to understand the request, but it refers to the fact that there was supposedly a “lack of evidence” in the trial that led to a sentence.
He also claims that there was an erroneous extradition process that prevented him from remaining in Mexico, where “he was treated fairly.”
The letters are addressed to the Eastern District Court, not directly to Judge Brian Cogan, who led the trial of “El Chapo”, which is why the petition was integrated into the judicial file, along with four other letters that were sent in April and May.
“El Chapo” claims that US authorities violated his right to the First and Eighth Amendments of the US Constitution.
Guzmán Loera was one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and faced trial in late 2018 and early 2019, where he was found guilty of charges of leading a criminal organization for a long period, in addition to drug trafficking.
His case led to a sentence of life imprisonment plus 30 years in prison, which he is serving at the Supermax in Florence, Colorado, where the Mexican drug trafficker is held in isolation, with one hour a day outdoors, as confirmed by this newspaper.
In April, “El Chapo” sent two letters, both in English, one dated April 9 and another dated April 10, where he addresses “equal protection of his rights,” as well as the First and Eighth Amendments.
This Monday, the court released three more letters issued by “El Chapo.” In the one signed on April 23, the drug trafficker even states that a “new trial” would have been ordered in his appeal, although that did not happen.
This newspaper requested an official position from Mariel Colón, who is still registered as a lawyer for “El Chapo”, but has not received a response.
“Thank you to the judge for accepting my request to send documents regarding the change of my verdict,” says one of the letters received on April 28 in court, but barely published in the judicial system.
No judge’s decision
There is no comment or decision from Judge Cogan on the April letters, but on January 16 of this year he dismissed another petition regarding the intervention of an alleged representative of Guzmán Loera.
James Sabatino claimed to be the honest representative of “El Chapo”, who made “the notification to the court as a motion to intervene as a person outside the process.” Judge Cogan rejected it.
In 2022, the Second Court of Appeals based in New York confirmed the Guzmán Loera ruling. The judges considered that the three months of the trial were conducted with “diligence and fairness” by Judge Cogan.
Lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman was one of the lawyers in the trial of “El Chapo” and now represents two of his sons, Iván Guzmán López and Joaquín Guzmán López, who reached a cooperation agreement in the Northern District Court of Illinois.
