Sinaloa Cartel Leader Says He Was Moved to ADX 'Supermax' Prison in Colorado in 'Torturous' Bid to Make Him Talk About El Chapo

A Sinaloa Cartel leader believes that he was moved to the ADX "supermax" prison in Colorado in a "torturous" bid to make him talk about his boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera.

Marco Paredes-Machado is a high-value prisoner for the U.S. Justice Department as they go after the notorious Sinaloa Cartel. However, Paredes-Machado has sued the Justice Department for violating his First Amendment Rights by moving him to the ADX "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado.

In his lawsuit, the Sinaloa Cartel leader claimed that his imprisonment inside one of the U.S.' highest-security prisons was a "torturous" attempt to make him talk about El Chapo, The Denver Post reported.

His lawsuit also claimed that the U.S. falsely accused him of being a member of ISIS to justify his transfer to Colorado. Paredes-Machado's camp further noted that when the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) determined that he was not a member of the Islamic State, it labeled him "notorious" to justify his transfer.

He also claimed that he was tortured by Mexican authorities at a "black site" in Mexico in January 2011 on behalf of the U.S. government. Paredes-Machado said he was beaten and waterboarded at the time.

Paredes-Machado was described in the lawsuit as a "plaza boss," similar to a regional distribution manager or middle management for the drug cartel. The lawsuit noted that "plaza bosses" do have access to organizational information.

It then added that "the acquisition of information from the middle echelons of a cartel's hierarchy" was a significant part of intelligence gathering for U.S. drug investigations.

The lawsuit further noted that no similarly situated cartel member under the jurisdiction of the BOP had received the "notorious" designation that Paredes-Machado received, adding that "no plaza boss" has been put to the ADX "supermax" prison.

The lawsuit said the U.S. government's treatment of the Sinaloa Cartel leader was "unconstitutional" since the treatment given to him was "vastly different from that of similarly situated prisoners."

Sinaloa Cartel Leader Oversaw a Vast Drug Smuggling Operation

The United States charged Marco Paredes-Machado with conspiracy to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana in November 2005.

According to the lawsuit, the charge was made to extradite the Sinaloa Cartel leader to the U.S. to "extract intelligence" and make him talk about the Mexican drug cartel and El Chapo.

Paredes-Machado was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2011 and was extradited to the United States in September 2015.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms of marijuana in September 2019. The Sinaloa Cartel leader was sentenced to 22 years in prison in February 2020.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Paredes-Machado allegedly led the Sinaloa Cartel's drug trafficking operations in Agua Prieta in Sonora state in Mexico that was responsible for distributing 40 tons of marijuana.

The Sinaloa Cartel leader was allegedly leading a group of 20 to 30 men and he directed them to export marijuana from Mexico to the U.S. and distribute it in Michigan and other states.

He also collected payments for the purchase of drugs and received proceeds for the eventual sale of narcotics. The Department of Justice noted that these transactions typically amount to tens of millions of dollars.

Marco Paredes-Machado Agrees to Talk About La Linea Cartel but Not About Sinaloa Cartel and Its Boss El Chapo

Before he pleaded guilty, Marco Paredes-Machado was held inside a minimum-security detention facility. However, after entering the plea, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wininger emailed him whether he would like to talk about the drug cartel's violence on the border.

Paredes-Machado agreed on the condition that they meet in Detroit in Michigan, where he was being held at the time.

The Sinaloa Cartel leader was scheduled to be transferred to a jail facility near Tucson. However, he feared that if he talked in Arizona, which is near the border, drug cartel members would find out, and there might be violent retaliation against him and his family.

Paredes-Machado has reportedly agreed to speak only about a rival cartel, La Linea, and not about the Sinaloa Cartel to which he belonged and its bosses like El Chapo.

The meeting did not happen, and Wininger and another Assistant U.S. Attorney, Seth Gilmore, allegedly "coordinated and executed a plan" to have the Sinaloa Cartel leader transferred to the ADX "supermax" prison in Colorado. Wininger and Gilmore were named as defendants in the lawsuit.

El Chapo was sentenced to spend the rest of his days also in the ADX "supermax" prison in Colorado after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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