El Chapo Demands New Trial, Claims Extradition was 'Illegal' and Lawyers were 'Ineffective'
Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has filed an appeal for a new trial, claiming his extradition to New York was "illegal" and his lawyers were "ineffective". He argues he should have been extradited to Texas or California and his lawyers failed to properly examine witnesses, leading to his life sentence.
Notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, once the most wanted man in the world, has filed a fresh appeal in a US court, seeking to overturn his life sentence. The convicted leader of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel claims his extradition from Mexico to New York was "illegal" and argues that his legal defense team was woefully "ineffective." These claims form the basis of a handwritten appeal motion that Guzmán, now languishing in a supermax prison, has personally submitted to Judge Brian Cogan.
Guzmán's appeal, received by US courts on October 15, marks the latest attempt by the drug lord to fight the life sentence he was handed in July 2019 for drug trafficking. The crime boss, notorious for his dramatic prison escapes and sprawling drug empire, is currently held in the ultra-secure ADX Florence prison in Colorado—often referred to as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." But despite his confinement in a maximum-security facility, El Chapo is not giving up his legal battle just yet.
