Mexican kingpin Joaquin Guzman popularly known as “El Chapo” was found guilty on Tuesday by jury on all counts.
The panel spent more than five days mulling the drug lord’s fate before convicting him on charges of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, use of firearms and various charges of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine, heroin and marijuana.
Guzman, who twice escaped prison in Mexico, now faces up to life behind bars.
The decision follows an 11-week trial with testimony from more than 50 prosecution witnesses including 14 former associates of Guzman’s who took the stand against him and a 30-minute, single-witness defense case.
The historic trial often reveals more like a telenovela than a prosecution.
The 61-year-old’s rise to be the leader of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel over the course of three decades, as witnesses detailed his pivot from a lavish lifestyle in the 1990s to hiding out in the mountains, on the run from authorities, the following decade.
Testimony from those closest to Guzman ranged from comical to chilling, including a naked escape from law enforcement through a tunnel network he’d built under his bathtub and the cold-blooded murders he himself committed.
The FBI managed to score access to not only those communications but also Guzman’s own encrypted servers after agents flipped his IT guy.
That access, in addition to other intercepts and a trove of belongings the kingpin abandoned at an oceanside mansion during a raid, were critical in his conviction.
The trial also served as a primer on the bloody turf wars across Mexico, as rival cartels battled for unencumbered access to the United States and its appetite for cocaine.
Prosecutors detailed in opening statements how Guzman’s organization had trafficked in more than 328 million lines of cocaine enough to provide more than a line for every person in the US.
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