Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera sent another letter to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York seeking his extradition to Mexico.
According to the document released, the message—written on a sheet of notebook paper—shows that “El Chapo” Guzmán expresses his desire to be extradited and asks for help to “return to his country.”
The letter is dated April 23. However, it was received by the Court on May 1, according to sources familiar with the matter.
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“Hello, to the District Court in Brooklyn: my name is Joaquín Guzmán and I am pursuing a request for extradition back to Mexico. As of today, I have written several letters regarding the fairness of my appeal at the upcoming date in order to obtain equal treatment under the law. This is a respectful letter expressing my disagreement with the Court regarding the conclusive evidence that was not proven to dismiss my case. I request that the District Court recognize my rights to be returned to my country and to seek changes concerning the violation of my verdict, in favor of fairness under federal law.
During the conclusion of my appeal, the requirements have been met for a new trial, and also for the parties of both countries to coordinate joint policies to achieve my return to Mexico. Thank you to the District Judge in Brooklyn for addressing this request. Joaquín Guzmán.”
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Previously, “El Chapo” Guzmán complained in a letter about the conditions under which he is serving his life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado. He therefore demanded that his right to freedom of expression be guaranteed.
“El Chapo” Guzmán’s handwritten letter in the style of García Luna
In October 2024, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán wrote to Judge Brian Cogan asking him to reconsider his life sentence because he was “illegally extradited to the United States.” He therefore requested reconsideration and the holding of “a new trial.”
The style of the letter was similar to the method used by Genaro García Luna, the former top security official under then-Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who wrote a five-page handwritten letter to the judge asking for clemency and pleading to be allowed to return to his family. The sentence was not life imprisonment, but it exceeded 38 years; he would be released at age 94.
“The extradition to the Eastern District of New York was illegal. I should have been extradited to the Eastern District of Texas and the Southern District of California. There was never a waiver of the rule of specialty signed by a magistrate judge,” he said a year and a half ago.
“El Chapo,” however, acknowledged that this motion had already been filed previously and is not based on “newly discovered evidence.”
He also criticized the effectiveness of his legal representation.
“My lawyers were not effective. They did not properly examine the witnesses and, as a result, I was found guilty. Nor did they fight to have certain evidence excluded from the case. The same goes for my appellate lawyer.” The evidence, he asserted, “is clear.”
Despite the letter, Judge Brian Cogan formally dismissed the requests of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
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