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A significant ruling has been handed down by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, as Judge Brian Hogan has denied the appeal made by former Mexico’s most powerful Cartel de Sinaloa leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to be reextradited back to Mexico. The decision, handed down yesterday, marks a decisive blow to the 67-year-old convicted drug trafficker’s attempts to avoid serving his life sentence in the United States.
According to sources close to the matter, Judge Hogan cited the ‘lack of legal merit’ as the reason for rejecting Guzman’s appeal. The decision was made following an extensive review of the former cartel leader’s arguments by the judge, in which Guzman claimed that a recent Mexico Supreme Court decision rendered his initial extradition to the United States invalid.
El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Lopez, has been a household name since his 2016 arrest by Mexican authorities and subsequent extradition to the United States. In 2019, he was convicted on multiple counts of drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder, among other crimes. His life sentence reflects the gravity of the offenses for which he was convicted.
In recent months, Guzman’s lawyers have sought to capitalize on a change in Mexico’s extradition laws, arguing that his initial extradition was invalid and that he should instead be sent back to Mexico to face trial there. However, Judge Hogan has firmly rejected this argument, stating that Guzman’s appeal lacks any real substance and therefore was not worth further consideration.
This ruling comes as a significant setback for Guzman, who has long sought to avoid serving his life sentence in the United States. While he will undoubtedly continue to pursue all available avenues to avoid his conviction, Tuesday’s decision is a major blow to his efforts. With the U.S. government already having a well-established track record of extraditing high-profile cartel leaders to face justice, Guzman’s prospects of ever walking free appear increasingly unlikely.