Overview
- Judge Brian Cogan on Monday denied five letters Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán sent from prison, including a request to be extradited to Mexico, calling the filings nonsensical and without legal merit.
- Guzmán’s notes were handwritten in English, dated April 20 and April 23, and the court logged them in late April and early May.
- In the letters, he claims his 2019 trial was unfair, argues key evidence was not proven, asks for a new trial, and seeks access to government files to examine the jury’s deliberations.
- His conviction remains intact after a 2022 Second Circuit ruling that upheld the verdict, and he continues to serve life plus 30 years at the ADX Florence supermax in Colorado.
- He suggests U.S. and Mexican authorities could coordinate a transfer, but any move would require formal agreements and faces long odds given prior appellate decisions and the judge’s latest ruling.