El Chapo Sentenced To Life In Prison And $12.6B Forfeiture: Feds

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman will spend his life in prison and forfeit $12.6 billion after he was sentenced in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday.

Guzman testified for the first time to complain of the"cruel and inhumane" treatment he has received in solitary confinement in a Manhattan jail since his 2017 extradition, according to reports.

Guzman was sentenced months after a Brooklyn Federal Court jury found him guilty in February of smuggling at least 200 tons of cocaine into the U.S. in a billions-of-dollars enterprise as chief of the Sinaloa cartel, prosecutors said.

He will likely head to a federal "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies," experts said. Supermax inmates' only view of the outside world is through a 4-inch window and they eat all their meals in their cells.

During the three-month trial, Brooklyn prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg charged Guzman, 61, with pocketing almost $14 billion as the cartel chief and plotting a prison breakout to escape charges in 2017, when he was first sent the U.S., where he has since been held in solitary confinement.

Unsealed court documents also revealed "El Chapo" may have raped girls as young as 13, whom he referred to as vitamins because they gave him "life," according to a Washington Post report.

The documents, which accuse "El Chapo" of paying $5,000 for each teen he raped at one of his ranches, were unsealed just three days before the jury began its deliberations. Guzman's attorneys said their client denies the allegations.

The jury never heard from Guzman himself, except when he told the judge he wouldn't testify. The jury reached its verdict after more than a week of deliberations.

During closing arguments, Guzman's attorney Jeffrey Lichtman argued that his client's role in the cartel was exaggerated and the prosecutors' case relied on witnesses who "lie, steal, cheat, deal drugs and kill people."

Guzman pleaded not guilty to 10 counts, which include engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to launder narcotics proceeds, international distribution of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs, and use of firearms.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.