"El Chapo" will request protection for his wife and daughters: lawyer

The lawyer of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera said that he wants to accelerate his extradition to the United States and have a fair process.

In an interview with EL UNIVERSAL, José Refugio Rodríguez Núñez, lawyer of “El Chapo”, said that one of the requests he will make to U.S. authorities is to reduce his jail time and to be kept at a middle-security prison.

Rodríguez added that he would also request protection for his wife Emma Coronel and their two daughters, who are U.S. citizens.

He explained that the leader of the Sinaloa cartel has not contacted U.S. authorities yet, but that he would do so once he hires an attorney in that country.

Rodríguez said that there are two extradition requests: one from the Southern District of Los Angeles, California and another one from the West district of El Paso, Texas.

He added that since January 8, when El Chapo was re-arrested, his client has faced a cruel treatment because El Altiplano prison authorities do not let him sleep.

“It is a revenge because he exposed the Mexican government. His cell is illuminated, he is recorded (by security cameras) all the time and they can see all his moves. There is no need to awaken him every four hours,” Rodríguez said.

Mexico's government rejects that Guzmán's rights are being violated and explained that the protocols to monitor highly dangerous inmates were approved in October 2015 and that these protocols include waking them every four hours for a roll call.

Rodríguez, coordinator of the team of lawyers that work for Guzmán, said in a radio interview that his client is ready to admit his guilt and collaborate with U.S. authorities by acting as a witness and revealing drug trafficking routes, without providing names.