USA: Drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ sentenced to life in prison

W/S Police officers, law official and citizens outside courthouse, New York City
W/S Crowd outisde courthouse
W/S Police
W/S People outside courthouse
SOT, Angel Melendez, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in NY: "I want to start off by saying: it's done. The book on El Chapo Guzman is closed today with this life sentence."
W/S Police and journalists
SOT, Brian Allen Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice: "The long road that lead El Chapo Guzman through the mountains of Sinaloa to the court house behind us today, was paved with death, drugs and destruction, but it ended today with justice. Mr. Guzman thought for more than 25 years that he was untouchable; that there was no problem affecting the Sinaloa cartel; that he could bribe, intimidate, torture, or kill his way out of it. Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of federal law enforcement, the offices of the individuals who are standing with me, and behind me, justice was done today for the American people." *LOW AUDIO QUALITY AT SOURCE*
W/S Jeff Lichtman, Defence Attorney, approaching microphones for interview
W/S Journalists and citizens
SOT, Jeff Lichtman, Defence Attorney: "It's a fiction. It's part of the show trial we're here for. They've been looking for his assets for how long? Decades? They found, right now, before they get to 12.7 million; how did they get to dollar one? When they get to dollar one, wake me up. Right now they're at zero." *LOW AUDIO QUALITY AT SOURCE*
M/S Defence team leaving
SCRIPT
Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman was sentenced to life in prison by a court in New York City on Wednesday, after being found guilty of 10 federal charges. He was also given an additional 30 years in jail following a request by US prosecutors.
Guzman can still appeal the decision. The Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice, Brian Allen Benczkowski, said the verdict had delivered “justice.”
“Mr Guzman thought for more than 25 years that he was untouchable; that there was no problem affecting the Sinaloa cartel; that he could bribe, intimidate, torture, or kill his way out of it,” he said.
Speaking to the press after the decision, the defence attorney Jeff Lichtman accused the trial of being a “fiction” and a “show trial.”
“They've been looking for his assets for how long? Decades? They found, right now, before they get to 12.7 million; how did the get to dollar one? When they get to dollar one, wake me up. Right now they're at zero,” said Lichtman.
Guzman faced a long list of charges, including the shipping of cocaine to the United States, conspiring to manufacture and distribute heroin and other drugs, and ordering of killings. His convictions were also centered around his leadership of the Sinaloa cartel, which dominates the drug trade in Mexico.
According to reports, Guzman will be transported to a a supermax federal prison in Colorado.