Drug lord ‘El Chapo’ should get life in prison: U.S. prosecutors

By Staff The Associated Press

Posted July 10, 2019 10:16 pm

1 min read

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FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2014 file photo, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the head of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, is escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture in the beach resort town of Mazatlan. AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File

U.S. prosecutors want the convicted Mexican drug lord known as “El Chapo” to spend his life in prison.

The federal government said in papers filed Wednesday the court should sentence Joaquin Guzman to the statutory mandatory minimum of life imprisonment plus an additional 30 years.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to order restitution for the victims in an amount to be later determined.

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Guzman’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, called the sentencing request “superfluous.” He also said the restitution was “money in theory and not reality” and that the “government has yet to locate a penny” of Guzman’s purported $12.6 billion in drug proceeds prosecutors want forfeited.

WATCH: Agent who helped take ‘El Chapo’ down speaks about hunt to recapture cartel boss after 2014 escape