Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the notorious former leader of the Mexican drug trade, has expressed grievances over being denied phone calls and visitations in the high-security American penitentiary where he is incarcerated for life.
From his cell in a high-security facility in Florence, Colorado, Guzmán, infamous for his previous escapes from Mexican prisons, penned a letter to Judge Brian M. Cogan of the Eastern District of New York in late March. He lamented the inability to communicate with his twin daughters, stating that since May 2023, his requests for calls have been unmet, attributing the silence to an unresponsive FBI agent overseeing the calls.
Guzmán decried what he perceives as “unprecedented discrimination,” asserting that the authorities are punishing him by obstructing communication with his daughters. He further petitioned for Judge Cogan to permit a visit from his wife, Emma Coronel, who had previously faced drug-related charges but was subsequently released.
In response, Judge Cogan clarified that the management of Guzmán’s confinement conditions falls exclusively under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, rendering him powerless to fulfill Guzmán’s requests.
The court has made these correspondences public by filing them in the case file.
Guzmán’s mother, aged 95, passed away in December in Sinaloa, Mexico, without having seen her son since his transfer to the Colorado prison.
Guzmán’s leadership of the Sinaloa cartel was marked by violent conflicts over drug territories, resulting in numerous fatalities. His trial in New York, following extradition, unveiled a saga of brutal acts, corrupt dealings, and elaborate smuggling operations.
The possibility remains that Guzmán might encounter his son in the American prison system. Ovidio Guzmán López, one of his sons, was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. in 2023 to face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, among others. The younger Guzmán is suspected of spearheading the cartel’s efforts to manufacture and distribute fentanyl to the U.S., a substance linked to a significant number of overdose deaths each year.
Source: ABC News
