Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán faces 11 charges and is being held in a maximum security prison in New York
An autograph seeker (click here) and a Michael Jackson impersonator are among the jurors who were rejected to serve on the trial of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.
Seven women and five men will decide if Guzmán is guilty of charges related to trafficking, laundering and firearms.
All 12 will remain anonymous under tight security terms and be escorted to and from court by US marshals.
The leader of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel could face life in prison....
There is probably no other country in the world that could hold him and still uphold the dignity of humane treatment. If any escape will be tried, it will be while he is being transported to and from the court hearings. In all honesty, he should be provided a viewing screen at the prison rather than taking him to the courthouse. Why open the public to any danger affiliated with this brutal killer.
14 November 2018
By Tom Hayes
During the height of Mexican drug wars in 1993, (click here) an attempted hit on Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman went wrong.
A team of gunmen sent to rub out the notorious drug lord instead killed a Roman Catholic cardinal at an airport in Guadalajara, outraging the Mexican public enough to touch off a massive manhunt for Guzman.
He was captured, but prosecutors say he was undeterred from a brutal pursuit of power that lasted decades, featured jail breakouts and left a trail of bodies.
The story of the botched assassination will be part of an epic tale told in a tightly secured New York City courtroom as Guzman's long-awaited trial opens today.
Opening statements were delayed after a juror was excused; a replacement was being selected.
Guzman, who has been held in solitary confinement since his extradition to the United States early last year, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune smuggling tonnes of cocaine and other drugs in a vast supply chain that reached New York, New Jersey, Texas and elsewhere north of the border.
If convicted, he faces a possible life prison sentence....
I. THE CHARGES (click here)
A grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of New York returned the Indictment on May 11, 2016. This Indictment, which spans over two-and-a-half decades of Guzman’s criminal conduct, charges Guzman in Count One with leading a Continuing Criminal Enterprise (“CCE”), in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 848(a), 848(b) and 848(c), for his role as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. In Count Two, Guzman is charged with participating in an international conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, knowing and intending that the narcotics would be illegally imported into the United States, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 960(b)(1)(A), 960(b)(1)(B)(ii), 960(b)(1)(G), 960(b)(1)(H) and 963. Counts Three and Four charge Guzman with being involved in cocaine importation and distribution conspiracies, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 960(b)(1)(B)(ii) and 963 and Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(b)(1)(A)(ii)(II), respectively. The Indictment also charges Guzman in Counts Five through Fifteen with specific instances of international cocaine distribution knowing and intending that the narcotics would be illegally imported into the United States, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 959(a), 959(c), 960(a)(3) and 960(b)(1)(B)(ii). Count Sixteen charges Guzman with the unlawful use of a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking crimes, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 924(c)(1)(A)(i), 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), 924(c)(1)(A)(iii) and 924(c)(1)(B)(ii). Finally, Guzman is charged in Count Seventeen with participating in a money laundering conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h). The Indictment provides Guzman notice of criminal forfeiture related to all charged counts in the amount of $14 billion, which represents the illegal proceeds of his narcotics trafficking activities.
If convicted of Count One alone, Guzman faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment....
