Joaquin Guzman, who was interviewed by Sean Penn for a controversial Rolling Stone article, has also been sentenced to an additional 30 years for his conviction for unlawful use of firearms.
- July 18, 2019
AceShowbiz - The drug boss Sean Penn interviewed for a controversial Rolling Stone article has been sentenced to life behind bars, plus 30 years.
Penn sat down with Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman at his jungle hideaway in 2015, while he was a fugitive from justice after escaping jail. Their interview about the war on drugs was published the following January - on the day the former Sinaloa cartel boss was re-arrested.
On Wednesday, July 17 Brooklyn federal Judge Brian Cogan sentenced Guzman to life in prison, the minimum he faced, plus an additional 30 years for his conviction for unlawful use of firearms. The judge also ordered him to forfeit $12.6 billion.
Guzman spoke in court through a translator, telling Cogan his incarceration has been hell, claiming he had been forced to drink "unsanitary water" and denied access to "fresh air and sunlight".
"In order to sleep, I have to clog my ears with toilet paper because of the air from the air duct," he added. "My wife has not been allowed to this day to visit me, I have not been allowed to hug my daughters. I have been physically, psychologically, mentally tortured 24 hours a day."
He also claimed his "unfair" trial had been tainted by juror misconduct.
"I was extradited to the U.S. to have a fair trial, where justice would be blind to my fame and would not be a defining factor in the administration of justice, but what happened was actually the opposite...," he said. "I take advantage of the opportunity to say there was no justice here. My case was stained and you denied me a fair trial while the whole world was watching. The United States is no better than any other corrupt country."
Guzman has been behind bars in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan since his extradition from Mexico in 2017.
