Notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman has asked the Mexican president for help over alleged “mental torment” he is suffering in a US prison, his lawyer said Tuesday.
“In the six years that Joaquin has been in the United States, he has not seen the sun,” said Jose Refugio Rodriguez, a Mexico-based legal representative for the founder of the Sinaloa cartel.
Guzman, 64, was sentenced to life behind bars in the United States for a drug conspiracy that spread murder and mayhem for more than two decades and is serving the sentence at ADX Florence in Colorado.
His message, labeled “SOS,” to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was delivered through one of Guzman’s attorneys in the United States, as well as his family, Rodriguez said.
Notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman (seen in 2017) has appealed to the Mexican president for help over alleged “mental torment” he is suffering in a US prison
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Wednesday his government would consider Guzman’s request to serve the remainder of his sentence in Mexico
Guzman is only allowed in a small area where he “doesn’t get the sun” three times a week and has fewer visits or phone calls than other inmates, the attorney said in an interview with Radio Formula.
“He’s suffering mental anguish,” he said, adding that the lack of sunshine is also bad for the convicted drug dealer’s physical health.
Guzman wants President Obrador to address alleged procedural violations during his 2017 extradition under the previous administration, Rodriguez added.
Mexico’s president said Wednesday his government would consider Guzman’s request to serve out the rest of his sentence in Mexico, where the drug lord twice escaped from prison.
Obrador said, “We will look into it,” adding, “You always have to keep the door open when it comes to human rights.”
Guzman, 64, was sentenced to life behind bars in the United States and is serving the sentence at ADX Florence in Colorado, see above
A cell with concrete furniture can be seen at the ADX supermax (administrative maximum) prison in Florence, Colorado, where Guzman is serving a life sentence
In the same room, the inmates have a toilet, a sink, and a miniature mirror
The United States and Mexico have a prison transfer agreement that allows prisoners convicted in one country to serve their sentences in their home country under certain circumstances.
But given Guzman’s crimes, his conviction and the risks he allegedly still poses, many doubt the deal would apply in his case.
The Mexican embassy in Washington confirmed on Twitter Tuesday that it received an email from Rodríguez on Jan. 10.
Without detailing the content of the email, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard downplayed the possibility of government intervention on behalf of the notorious drug trafficker.
“He’s serving a sentence there, he has a sentence,” he told journalists. “So I honestly don’t see any options for him, but I’ll look into it with the prosecutor.”
Pictured above is an exterior of the infamous ADX prison in Florence. Guzman’s lawyers say he’s allowed to go outside three times a week, in a place out of direct sunlight
The exterior of the Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colorado is 90 miles south of Denver
El Chapo is serving a life sentence in the United States after being convicted in 2019 on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons offenses.
One of his sons, Ovidio Guzman, was arrested by Mexican security forces this month in an operation that killed 29 people and sparked a dramatic shooting at an airport in the city of Culiacan.
The Joaquin Guzman is serving his life sentence at ADX Florence, a 490-bed “supermax” prison in the heart of Colorado — also known as the Alcatraz of the Rockies.
It’s America’s most secure prison from which no one has ever escaped, making it a fitting resting place for the cartel boss who has broken out of Mexican jails not once, but twice.
In 2001, Guzman bribed Mexican prison guards in a complex plan to escape by hiding in a laundry cart.
In 2015, Guzman slipped through a nearly mile-long tunnel leading from his cell’s shower in his second dramatic prison escape from a prison in central Mexico.
Emma Coronel, wife of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, is serving a three-year sentence in a Texas prison
It’s not the first time El Chapo’s attorneys have raised issues with excessive terms at ADX Florence.
Last March, his attorney, Mariel Colón, told Mexican broadcaster Milenio that Guzman’s rights had been violated by ADX Florence employees.
“They don’t take him outside, they don’t take him out for a single day,” claimed Colón. “We had a lot of problems because they don’t give him medical treatment when he gets sick. The requests will be ignored.’
The high-profile attorney, who also represented El Chapo’s wife Emma Coronel before she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2021, said the Sinaloa cartel co-founder was denied access to water and dental treatment for his molars.
Guzmán also complained about the harsh conditions he faced in a Manhattan jail after his extradition from Mexico to the United States in January 2017.
By the end of his trial, he spent his entire time at the Manhattan Metropolitan Center ranting about drinking tap water and asking for bottled water. He also complained that the cell was too cold.