A lawyer for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman said she is working to get the Mexican drug kingpin out of Colorado's Supermax prison via an appeal — which the Drug Enforcement Administration is calling unlikely.
"Mr. Guzman remains focused on his appeal, which is what we are working on right now," Mariel Colon told CNN.
Guzman is serving a life sentence plus 30 years in a maximum-security federal prison near Florence, Colorado. He lives alone in his cell, which measures 7 feet by 12 feet.
Guzman was convicted in early 2019, and his lawyers have until Aug. 21 to file an appeal to have the jury's decision overturned.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Ray Donovan told CNN, "The one thing you have to understand about the trial is that there is a mountain of evidence against El Chapo. And there's so much more to the entire Sinaloa Cartel, that in my honest opinion, I don't think he has a chance of an appeal."
Guzman has escaped from prison several times, which prompted officials to make sure he is unable to get out of the super secure Colorado facility that's known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."
Colon told CNN that her client is having a difficult time living behind bars during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"He's even more alone now after COVID-19. They completely canceled all visits, legal and social. He was allowed three hours a week of outdoor exercise but that has also been suspended in order to limit his contact with the guards, so of course this has been hard, or harder on him and it has affected Mr. Guzman emotionally and psychologically in my opinion," she said.
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