Judge Cogan Refuses to Delay Eastern District ‘El Chapo’ Trial
/Associated Press
A federal court judge has rejected a request to put off the trial of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Lawyers for Guzman told Judge Brian Cogan at a hearing Thursday that they needed more time to review a mountain of evidence in the drug-trafficking case.
But Cogan, a judge in the Eastern District of New York, said he was sticking with a schedule that has jury selection beginning Nov. 5. He had already agreed in July to delay the trial by two months.
Guzman was extradited to the U.S. last year. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that his cartel laundered billions of dollars and oversaw a ruthless campaign of murders and kidnappings.
Guzman’s Sinaloa drug cartel is alleged to have transported thousands of pounds of cocaine and heroin into Queens.
He faces life in prison if convicted at a trial that could last several weeks.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is being tried in federal court for the Eastern District of New York. // AP file photo
