NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A jury is getting closer to deciding the fate of accused Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman as deliberations enter their second day Tuesday at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn.
Guzman listened to an interpreter Monday as U.S. District Court Judge Brian Cogan explained the 10 counts to the jury, which ended the first day of deliberations without a verdict.
The 61-year-old is accused of amassing and distributing tons of cocaine, heroin and other drugs to the U.S. and around the world for decades via boats, planes, trucks and trains.
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He’s known as “El Chapo” because of his diminutive stature but his status in Mexico was one of the most feared and fearsome cartel leaders.
Guzman has been on trial for the last three months, with the prosecution giving hair-raising testimony about gruesome murders and dismemberments of Sinaloa cartel rivals, with one man buried alive.
Because Guzman escaped twice from Mexican prisons, he has been in solitary confinement at an undisclosed location. Only his young, twin daughters are allowed to visit him under very controlled circumstances.
Prosecutors even claim he was planning a third escape when he was brought to the U.S. last year.
Guzman’s attorneys say cooperating witnesses said what they had to in order to reduce their own sentences and culpability.