After taking nearly a week to deliberate, a jury at the Federal District Court in Brooklyn delivered a verdict in the highly publicized case against Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Then, Judge Brian M. Cogan revealed that the jury had found the defendant, El Chapo, guilty on all ten counts of the indictment. As the charges were being read, The New York Times reports that the defendant motioned to his wife who responded by giving him a thumbs up.
After the verdict was read, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Richard P. Donoghue, told reporters, “There are those who say the war on drugs is not worth fighting.” Jeffrey Lichtman of the defendant’s legal team responded by saying, “I’ve never faced a case with so many cooperating witnesses and so much evidence.” Lichtman added, “We did all we could as defense lawyers.”
Throughout the trial, the United States Government made their case with abundance of witnesses. The defense managed to produce testimony from fifty-six witness, fourteen of whom allegedly worked with the defendant.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is set be sentenced on June 25th, but his team remains committed to appealing the verdict in the meantime. Having been found guilty on all ten charges, the defendant faces up to life in prison.
