Federal appeals court upholds El Chapo conviction News
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Federal appeals court upholds El Chapo conviction

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Tuesday upheld the conviction of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, known as “El Chapo.”

Guzmán ran one of the largest narco-cartels in Mexico and as recently as 2009 was listed on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest men. In 2017 he was extradited to the US and was convicted in 2019 on 10 counts related to drug-trafficking, including firearm and money laundering and engaging in a criminal enterprise. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Guzmán appealed his conviction on multiple grounds, but the appeals court concluded “that none of these claims has merit.” An attorney for Guzmán said an appeal to the Supreme Court is likely.

Guzmán had previously been incarcerated in and escaped from two maximum-security prisons in Mexico. He is currently incarcerated at the Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, a super-maximum prison known as ADX Florence. No one has escaped since its opening in 1994.

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