Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ to Appear in US Court

Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ to Appear in US Court
Authorities escort Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (C) from a plane to a waiting caravan of SUVs at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., on Jan. 19, 2017. (U.S. law enforcement via AP)
The Associated Press
2/3/2017
Updated:
2/3/2017

NEW YORK—Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is scheduled to appear in person in a federal court in New York.

A judge initially ruled that Guzman would appear in court by video on Friday rather than have marshals escort him to and from a high-security Manhattan jail cell. The order was changed after his lawyers asked the judge to reconsider.

Guzman is charged with running a massive drug trafficking operation that laundered billions of dollars and oversaw murders and kidnappings.

Guzman has repeatedly been imprisoned and escaped in Mexico. U.S. authorities have pursued him for years.

To get Mexico to hand him over to the U.S., prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. They’re demanding he forfeit $14 billion in assets.

Guzman has pleaded not guilty.