Joaquin Guzman Loera, 61, AKA El Chapo, only has three attorneys on his legal defense team – and he’s only going to spend an estimated $5 million for his trial.
He obviously never took any ESP courses before he got busted. He appears in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday for the first day of his trial,
In the meantime and during his trial, El Chapo is held at the Brooklyn MDC, the same prison that holds the world’s self-proclaimed smartest man, Keith Alan Raniere AKA Vanguard.
Raniere, who is scheduled for trial in March, has five lawyers. His five co-defendants collectively have another 19 lawyers – for a total of 24. It has been estimated that the NXIVM defense team will earn at least $15 million or three times what El Chapo will spend on his lawyers.
Raniere faces life in prison for allegedly running a criminal cult that featured sex trafficking and racketeering. El Chapo faces life in prison for allegedly running a drug empire worth billions.
El Chapo’s lawyers are Manhattan lawyer Jeffery Lichtman, 53, who successfully defended John “Junior” Gotti, son of the late Gambino family godfather John Gotti, on charges he ordered the failed hit on radio host Curtis Sliwa in 1992. Each of Junior’s three trials ended in hung juries.
El Chapo’s other attorneys are Eduardo Balarezo and William Purpura, who jointly and unsuccessfully defended Guzman’s former partner, turned rival, Alfredo Beltran Leyva, a drug lord known as “The Desert Ant,” on drug trafficking charges. Leyva got convicted last year — and was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay $529 million in fines to the U.S.
Leyva blamed El Chapo for ratting him out to authorities and ordered the murder of Guzman’s son, Edgar.
As for fees, Raniere’s are being paid by Sara and Clare Bronfman – the latter is a co-defendant and the former may well be charged soon. A trust fund was established for Raniere’s legal bills by the fabulously stupid sisters.
El Chapo, on the other hand, had some problems at first in paying his attorneys. His lawyer told the judge he wanted his family in Mexico to foot his legal bills. Guzman’s wife, sons and extended family live off the hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue they receive from drug proceeds. At first, reportedly, his family objected to paying for his defense, since it was like throwing good money away – because everyone knows he is bound to be convicted.
“Goodbye poppa” was about all they would say. But then they changed their minds after El Chapo’s plea to them in court. It was the least they could do – to take about 1 percent of their annual income and give it to El Chapo’s attorneys – as they live lavishly on the money he got for them by poisoning millions of American youths.
In a tender gesture, El Chapo, who has not seen his wife in two years (she is apparently going to attend his trial), asked the judge, Brian Cogan, to allow him to briefly hug her when he sees her in court. The judge denied his request.
Last week, El Chapo’s top lieutenant, Vicente Zambada, pleaded guilty to trafficking conspiracy in Chicago and will cooperate with prosecutors.
It is not known if Raniere’s top lieutenant – Nancy Salzman AKA Prefect will get a plea deal and cooperate with prosecutors.
Prosecutors in Guzman’s case have produced more than 300,000 pages of documents in evidence. There are hundreds of court records and 140,000 wire intercepts.
Prosecutors in Raniere’s case have said they have 12 terabytes of data – the equivalent of 144 library floors – to review and, if/as relevant, to produce in discovery.
If Guzman is convicted [which is likely], prosecutors will try to seize $14 billion of his alleged profits from his sale of drugs.
That makes the potential seizure of $100 million or so of Bronfman money – if Bronfman is convicted – seem relatively minor.
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Likely El Chapo trial witness pleads guilty in Chicago
https://archive.fo/YeNvw#selection-739.0-746.0
ikely El Chapo trial witness pleads guilty in Chicago
By MICHAEL TARMEmail
12:15 am
Military officers escort alleged drug trafficker Vicente Zambada during his presentation to the media March 19, 2009, in Mexico City.
AP file photo
Caption
CHICAGO – A former top lieutenant to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and likely witness at the Mexican drug lord’s New York trial has pleaded guilty to trafficking conspiracy in Chicago, saying in a plea agreement unsealed Friday that he will cooperate with prosecutors in hopes of a reduced sentence and protection from cartel retribution for his family.
The 19-page plea deal, posted in Chicago federal court, says 43-year-old Vicente Zambada pleaded guilty to charges in a case originally filed in Washington, D.C., in 2002 and then transferred to Chicago this August. Zambada also agreed not to contest the government’s seizure of
$1.3 billion in ill-gotten assets in a related case brought in Chicago in 2009.
Jury selection for Guzman’s trial in New York wrapped up this week, with opening statements set for Tuesday.
Zambada would know details about the inner workings of Guzman’s Sinaloa Cartel few others would know.
Zambada oversaw cartel logistics until his 2009 arrest and had authority to order hits; by his early 20s, Zambada, the son of another Sinaloa kingpin, Ismael Zambada, was already handling illegal shipments of drugs bound for Chicago, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, filings say.
In an indication of how valuable his testimony could be and how dangerous taking the witness stand would be for him and his family, prosecutors said in the plea deal that they’ll recommend the U.S. government provide security to him and his family.
That could include permitting them to stay permanently in the U.S., the agreement says.
Security has been a concern since his extradition to Chicago in 2010. He wasn’t allowed on a rooftop recreational area at his city jail from fear a sniper could shoot him from an adjacent skyscraper.
Zambada appeared briefly in a Chicago courtroom Thursday to change his plea to guilty. The hearing wasn’t listed on court schedules, though a Chicago Tribune reporter attended and described Zambada as appearing relaxed as he answered a judge’s questions through an interpreter.
His agreement doesn’t say explicitly he will testify in New York. But it does say he agrees to cooperate in providing testimony “in any matter” and “in any investigation.” He faces anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, but prosecutors would recommend a sentence at the low range of guidelines if Zambada cooperates as promised.
The judge set a Feb. 27 sentencing date, though that would likely be delayed as Zambada continues to aid prosecutors.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago declined to comment.
Zambada pleaded guilty under a similar arrangement in the Chicago case in 2013, in what was the first indication he’d turned on his former Sinaloa cohorts.
The Chicago indictment, which names Guzman as a co-defendant, says the cartel used speed boats and submarines to transport drugs. The cartel sent 747-cargo planes full of clothes on supposed humanitarian missions to South America, returning with
13 tons of cocaine.
This is happening in Cook County Illinois and yet nothing from Detective Perv aka Shadowperv. Right under his own nose. He must be out in Los Alamitos checking on Allie Wack.
Isn’t that a conflict of interest using the same attorneys who represented a rival who ordered your son killed, and whom you may have ratted out?
No. The Amway attorney who sued me is the same dirtbag who sued Amway a few years earlier. Lawyers make the rules for others, they don’t follow them.
It pays to have rich friends like the Bronfmans.
If Nancy pleads guilty, similar to Guzman’s assistant did, the DOJ would be happy to have her testify against Raniere. Guzman’s request to hug his wife in court was a PR stunt, she can probably hug him during visitations. Guzman probably has several more lawyers working in the background, as $5 million is a lot of billable hours, even for overpriced lawyers.