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El Chapo‘s illustrious drug lord career is officially over. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. On Wednesday morning, the notorious Sinaloa Cartel drug kingpin was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison.
The convicted Mexican drug lord, who was one of the world’s most powerful and richest criminals ever, is sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years by a U.S. court in Brooklyn. His crimes include murder conspiracy, drug charges, criminal enterprise, conspiracy to launder narcotics proceeds, use of firearms, international distribution of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs while he was the Sinaloa Cartel boss.
#BREAKING @vicenews: El Chapo sentenced to life in prison + 30 years in a dramatic hearing. He spoke at length and questioned whether his conviction was justice because of juror misconduct.
— Keegan Hamilton (@keegan_hamilton) July 17, 2019
Judge Brian Cogan said the life sentence was mandated and he had no discretion. The judge said that the evidence presented during the 3-month trial that featured 200 hours of testimony showed that Guzman was “overwhelming evil” and the prison sentence is appropriate to his crimes.
RELATED: El Chapo Had His Own Cousin Killed For Calling Out Of Work
It gets worse for El Chapo because the drug lord will also have to forfeit over $12.6 billion to the U.S. government.
In court, Guzman said he was subjected to “cruel and inhumane” treatment during his 30 months of confinement in the United States. “The last 30 months have been torture,” El Chapo said. “There is no justice in this country — like any other country it is a corrupt one.”
Defense attorney says all he wanted was "a fair trial" for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman: "You'll forgive me if I don't have the utmost respect for how they handled this case, and their desperate efforts to avoid a hearing." https://t.co/YMUOO4ZOQJ pic.twitter.com/sOpw7YnZrh
— ABC News (@ABC) July 17, 2019
There will be no more prison escapes for El Chapo, who has been in U.S. detention for 30 months. Guzman is currently being held in lower Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, which is situated between New York’s Police Headquarters at 1 Police Plaza and the United States Courthouse on Foley Square.
Guzman is expected to be transferred to ADX Florence, the “prison of all prisons.” ADX Florence is a supermax penitentiary touted to most secure prison facility in the nation, if not the entire world.
ADX Florence is a 37-acre supermax prison located in the mile-high desert, outside an old mining town approximately two hours south of Denver. The facility is in a remote area with nothing nearby, meaning escapees are easily located.
Read more about the El Chapo saga HERE.
RELATED: US Government Says El Chapo’s Recent Demands Are A Last-Ditch Prison Escape Attempt
[BBC]