El Chapo Case: Supreme Court Rejects Sinaloa Cartel Boss' Appeal to Review His Drug Trafficking Conviction

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday junked the request of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera to review his case.

According to Law and Crime, El Chapo's lawyers filed a petition for a writ of certiorari last April. The high court reportedly rejected the petition without comment.

El Chapo's legal team cited two reasons for granting the petition for a writ of certiorari. The first was more technical and related to violations of an extradition treaty. The second had something to do with El Chapo's complaints about "pretrial restraints."

El Chapo's legal team noted that "certiorari is also warranted because excessive and punitive pretrial restraints impaired petitioner's right to counsel, a defense, and due process of law."

They maintained that the pretrial confinement of the Sinaloa Cartel leader was beyond "draconian." El Chapo's lawyers argued that the "series of pyramiding constraints" and "tower of expanding restraints" robbed the Sinaloa Cartel boss of the ability to "mount a defense" and get a fair trial.

Before his sentencing, prosecutors called El Chapo a "ruthless and bloodthirsty leader," whom they said should be sentenced to the mandatory minimum of life in prison because of his murderous drug trafficking business.

Last January, a federal appeals court in New York has upheld the life sentence of El Chapo after his request for a new trial was dismissed.

In their decision, the three judges rejected some of El Chapo's arguments, including jury bias, "deplorable" jail conditions, and the U.S. government selectively targeting him for prosecution.

Sinaloa Cartel Boss El Chapo Asks Supreme Court to Review His Case

Before the petition was filed in the Supreme Court, El Chapo's lawyer, Mariel Colon Miro, told Milenio that the high court should review the case because they believed that the Sinaloa Cartel boss was treated unfairly.

"They don't take him out into the open air. They don't take him out for a single day. We have a lot of problems because they don't treat him medically if he gets sick," Colon Miro said.

"Requests were ignored. He can't have two 15-minute calls a month... The government claims that they need to have him under those restrictions because he can pass some message," the lawyer added.

Colon Miro further noted that some basic rights, like access to water and toothache treatment, were also violated inside the prison. The lawyer said they hoped that the high court would overturn the Mexican drug kingpin's conviction after reviewing his case.

The Case of Sinaloa Cartel Founder El Chapo

The Sinaloa Cartel is considered one of the world's most powerful drug-trafficking syndicates. The Mexican drug cartel has been known for carrying out assassinations, murders, and torture to protect its turf.

The group was founded in the late 1980s and headed by El Chapo. The Mexican drug kingpin was arrested and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison in 1993. El Chapo escaped from prison in 2001 and was apprehended again in 2014 in Sinaloa, Mexico.

The Sinaloa Cartel boss again escaped from prison through a tunnel the following year. In January 2016, Mexican officials announced that El Chapo has been captured again. He was extradited to the U.S. the following year.

El Chapo, 65, is serving a life sentence in prison after being found guilty in 2019 of all 10 federal charges he faced. He was accused of illegally importing millions of kilos of cocaine from Mexico to the U.S., along with significant quantities of heroin and marijuana.

According to prosecutors, El Chapo allegedly used murder, torture, kidnapping, bribing officials, and "other illegal methods to control territory throughout Mexico and to subdue opposition."

El Chapo is currently being held in Colorado's supermax prison, the most secure federal prison in the U.S. Last month, the Sinaloa Cartel boss complained about being mistreated in the Colorado prison.

In a seven-page letter that was sent to the attorney general, El Chapo said the treatment he received in the maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado was "cruel and unfair," and it was taking a toll on his health.

He wrote in English that due to the treatment at the prison, he suffers from "headaches, memory loss, muscle cramps, stress, and depression." He added that the treatment he received was also causing him to suffer from psychological problems.

El Chapo said he also had no human contact other than when the guards put on and remove his shackles. He further noted that he often stays hungry as they serve him "little food."

"I have raised this issue with staff, but no one has done anything... I pray that this court intervenes," El Chapo noted.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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