Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Mexican drug lord found guilty of running a murderous criminal enterprise that smuggled tons of drugs into the United States over three decades, was sentenced by a US judge on Wednesday to spend the rest of his life in prison.
US district Judge Brian Cogan imposed the sentence of life plus 30 years, which was mandatory under the law, at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn.
Guzmán, 62, was
found guilty by a jury in February of trafficking tons of cocaine, heroin and marijuana and engaging in multiple murder conspiracies as a top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, long known as one of Mexico’s largest and most violent drug trafficking organizations.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Cogan said the “overwhelming evil” of Guzmán’s crimes was made readily apparent during the 12-week trial.
Raymond Donovan, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent who led the effort to capture and extradite the kingpin, said Guzmán’s conviction and sentence represented “justice not only for the Mexican government, but for all of Guzmán’s victims in Mexico”.
