https://news.vice.com/story/prosecutors-want-to-know-why-billionaire-drug-lord-el-chapo-needs-a-public-defender
Defending El Chapo
Prosecutors want to know why billionaire drug lord El Chapo needs a public
defender
wseason of VICE on HBO premieres February 24.
a.. TOPICS
a.. Money
b.. Trump Tracker
c.. Video
b.. FEATURED CORRESPONDENTS
a.. Suroosh Alvi
b.. Elspeth Reeve
c.. Matt Phillips
DRUG CARTELS
Prosecutors want to know why billionaire drug lord El Chapo needs a public
defender
Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is widely regarded as one of
the world’s richest drug lords, but he’s currently enjoying a privilege
generally reserved for America’s poorest criminal defendants.
Since the Mexican kingpin was extradited to New York on Jan. 19, he’s been
represented by two court-appointed public defenders. El Chapo is due back in
federal court in Brooklyn on Friday, and federal officials are questioning
whether he’s really too poor to afford his own attorney.
On Jan. 27, U
By Keegan Hamilton on Jan 31, 2017.S. Attorney Robert Capers and Arthur Wyatt,
the chief of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section in Department of Justice’s
Criminal Division, sent a letter to Judge Brian M. Cogan asking the court to
look into El Chapo’s financial situation.
“The court should make a strenuous inquiry into whether the defendant is
financially unable to afford counsel,” the letter said. “Such an inquiry is
necessary to ensure that American taxpayers are not needlessly paying for the
representation of Guzman, the billionaire leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, the
world’s largest and most prolific drug trafficking organization.”
The letter notes that Forbes magazine once included El Chapo on its list of the
world’s richest men, estimating his net worth at more than $1 billion. It also
claims the cartel leader was responsible for shipping at least 250 tons of
cocaine into the U.S. worth at least $14 billion — money the U.S. wants him to
repay through asset forfeiture.
The federal officials also refer to “numerous well-published accounts of
Guzman’s wealth,” including stories about his daring escape from a
maximum-security Mexican prison through an elaborate tunnel in January 2015.
“As part of its investigation into Guzman’s escape, the Mexican authorities
stated that Guzman expended a significant amount of money for the escape,” the
letter said. “Press accounts estimate the cost of the escape as over a million
dollars.”
In court documents filed Monday, Guzman’s attorneys, Michael K. Schneider and
Michelle Gelernt, of the Federal Defenders of New York, explained the unusual
situation that led them to represent the drug lord. El Chapo’s extradition was
so sudden, Schneider and Gelernt wrote, that one of his lawyers in Mexico was
actually at the prison where he was being held “and was not informed of his
client’s circumstances” before he was “airlifted” to New York.
Guzman was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Jan. 20, the day
after his extradition, and he needed U.S. attorneys on extremely short notice.
The court-appointed defenders met with him that morning, and represented him
later in the afternoon when he pleaded not guilty to a 17-count indictment that
includes an array of drug, conspiracy, and money-laundering charges.
It’s unclear whether El Chapo actually wants to keep his public defenders going
forward. In their letter to the judge, the federal officials said the
government “is aware that Guzman is making inquiries of private counsel,” and
they anticipate he will eventually hire a private attorney. He also has yet to
file a financial affidavit, a document that requires him to prove he’s too poor
to afford his own lawyer.
If the drug lord decides to keep the court-appointed lawyers, it could lead to
some awkward moments in the courtroom if his case goes to trial. The federal
officials noted that the federal defenders have “represented two potential
cooperating witnesses,” who could testify against him, as well as “three
co-conspirators” from the Sinaloa cartel.
John Marzulli, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern
District of New York, declined to name the co-conspirators and cooperating
witnesses. He also declined to provide further comment on El Chapo’s lawyer
situation.
Meanwhile, El Chapo’s free attorneys are fighting to ensure he gets a fair
shake in court. Federal prosecutors have asked Judge Cogan to let the drug lord
make scheduled court appearance on Friday by “video transmission” rather than
in person. Guzman’s lawyers have objected to the request, arguing that his
“presence in court is necessary to ensure his faith in the fundamental fairness
of the American judicial process.”
The lawyers note that El Chapo is currently being held in solitary confinement
at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a highly secure jail in downtown
Manhattan, where he ”is locked in a cell 23 hours a day and only allowed to
leave to meet with his attorneys and for one hour of solitary exercise.”
The attorneys said there has not been “a single complaint” that suggests their
high-profile client has been “uncooperative or disruptive in any way.” They
claim that “his absence from the courtroom would necessarily lead to the public
impression that Mr. Guzman is too dangerous to be brought to the courtroom.”
