Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ to be in US court, in person

In this Jan. 8, 2016, file photo, a handcuffed Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City. (Eduardo Verdugo / Associated Press)

NEW YORK – Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is to be in federal court in person Friday in New York.

A judge ruled last week that Guzman would appear in court by video rather than have marshals escort him to and from a high-security Manhattan jail cell. But his lawyers asked the judge to reconsider. A new order was issued Wednesday.

Prosecutors describe Guzman as the overseer of a three-decade campaign of smuggling, brutality and corruption that fueled an epidemic of cocaine abuse and related violence in the U.S. in the 1980s and `90s. The defense says it hasn’t seen any evidence of illegal acts.

To get Mexico to hand him over to the U.S., prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. They’re demanding he forfeit $14 billion in assets.