The world’s most notorious drug kingpin, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, sent a handwritten note last month to the federal judge overseeing his case, demanding to meet his Miami attorney.
The note, written in Spanish, was sent to U.S. District Court Judge Brian Cogan of the Eastern District of New York, claiming the federal government was keeping him from seeing his new lawyer, Israel Encinosa — a longtime South Florida criminal defense attorney.
Encinosa was initially hired by Guzman to represent him on an old criminal case in South Florida. Soon after Encinosa filed his appearance in the Miami case and sought access to Guzman, federal prosecutors dismissed the South Florida charges. Guzman, nevertheless, said he still needs to review other legal matters with Encinosa.
Late Thursday afternoon, Judge Cogan issued a memo denying Guzman’s request to meet with Encinosa, saying the infamous drug lord needed to file his request with a different court. “The defendant’s request is denied without prejudice to his being able to renew it through his lawyer in the relevant forum,” Judge Cogan decided in a memorandum released on Thursday.
Contacted by CBS News Thursday, Encinosa said he did not want to discuss his efforts to see Guzman. It is not uncommon, however, for attorneys representing violent, high-profile inmates to go through an extensive vetting process before being allowed to meet their clients in prison.
Encinosa also represents Jimmy Sabatino, a Brooklyn mobster who stole millions of dollars in diamonds by conning various jewelers into believing he was a record label executive who needed the jewels for upcoming music videos starring Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, and other A-list celebrities.
Both Guzman and Sabatino have spent more than five years in side-by-side cells — segregated from all other prisoners — in the highest security prison in the United States, the Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado.
CBS News Miami reported earlier this year that the two men were asking to be allowed to have recreation time together. That motion was later withdrawn, but the conditions surrounding their confinement remain an issue for both men.
Guzman and Sabatino are housed in a special wing of Supermax known as “The Suites.” They are not allowed to communicate with any other prisoners and have limited interactions with prison staff. They are also not allowed to speak to anyone outside of prison, except for their attorneys and one or two family members. Guzman had been permitted to speak to his daughters, but a recent report on the Mexican news website Entorno suggests that may have been cut off. In the case of Sabatino, his only family contact is his stepmother. He is allowed to speak to her twice a month for no more than 15 minutes, according to the pleading. The call to his stepmother is monitored by the FBI.
The communication restrictions are designed to prevent either man from continuing to run their criminal organizations from inside prison. Sabatino, who federal authorities claim is a member of the Gambino crime family, committed many of his biggest cons while in federal custody in Miami by using smuggled cell phones. And Guzman is believed to have run the Sinaloa cartel while he was in prison in Mexico before his extradition to the United States.
In fact, last month, Guzman’s son, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug conspiracy and two counts of knowingly engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise in what the government claimed were part of a violent effort to maintain control of his father’s drug cartel. Sentencing will take place later this year.
El Chapo Guzman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sabatino is serving a twenty-year prison sentence.
The court-ordered restrictions placed on Guzman and Sabatino presented a particularly challenging situation for prison officials in Colorado, who opted to put the two men in their own wing of the prison, isolated from all the other prisoners.
“The circumstances of these two specific inmates are unique,” attorney Encinosa wrote in his since-withdrawn filing to U.S. District Court Judge Joan Leonard. “They are both considered the most restricted inmates in not just the ADX, but in the entire United States.”
“By granting this request, the only thing that would change is that Mr. Guzman and Mr. Sabatino would be able to recreate in their enclosed separate cages during the same period of time.”
“What we are basically asking is that they be allowed to walk and talk together, in separate cages, at the same time,” Encinosa told CBS News Miami in March. “They are human beings, they may be flawed individuals, but they should be treated as human beings.”
At the time it was submitted, the motion to have Guzman and Sabatino take their recreation breaks simultaneously offered a rare, detailed look at what living conditions are like for both Guzman and Sabatino.
According to the filing: “There are only four cells in the wing; each 12′ x 7′ cell is equipped with a bed, desk, bathroom, shower, and a separate recreation cage. Sabatino’s cell has a camera equipped with night vision and sound. This subjects Sabatino to 24/7 audio and visual surveillance, which is monitored and recorded by both the [Bureau of Prisons] and the FBI.”
“The only other inmate on the range is alleged Drug Kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman,” the court filing continues. “Mr. Guzman has been housed with [Sabatino] since his arrival [in] Florence in 2019. Before Mr. Guzman’s arrival at [Supermax], Mr. Sabatino was alone. Although in separate cells, Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Guzman have communicated freely for over 5 years, day and night, by talking loudly through the doors. As noted above, all conversations are monitored and recorded visually and audibly by both the [Bureau of Prisons] and the FBI.”
Both Guzman and Sabatino are permitted to leave their cells for a couple of hours a week. Each of their cells connects to a back door that opens into an outdoor caged area.
“The cages are individual cages, which do not allow physical contact between inmates,” the court filing states. “The cages are below ground level and are surrounded by 4 walls. The only thing visible from the cages is the sky. Since Mr. Sabatino has been in ‘The Suites,’ he has not gone outside to recreate because he is in poor health, and when alone in the cages there is nothing to do. It is an empty cage roughly the same size as the cell. Mr. Guzman does go outside in the cage to recreate when allowed in order to get fresh air. However, Mr. Guzman has been unable to interact during recreation with anyone since Mr. Sabatino has been unable to go to recreate at the same time as Mr. Guzman due to Mr. Sabatino’s court-ordered communication restrictions. It is important to stress that the two cages in ‘The Suites’ are equipped with individual video cameras and audio recording devices.”
Sabatino asked to have his recreation time while Guzman takes his. Presumably, this would allow the two men to see each other.
“Mr. Guzman is a 67-year-old man who speaks no English, only Spanish,” the March filing continued. “He has had a very difficult time acclimating to life in [Supermax] and his severe communication restrictions. Mr. Sabatino is fluent in several languages (Italian, Sicilian, Latin, and Arabic) and speaks some Spanish. Mr. Sabatino’s Spanish is good enough to conduct small talk with Mr. Guzman. In reality, Mr. Guzman has learned a little English from Mr. Sabatino. Most importantly, Mr. Sabatino often serves as a translator between the guards and Mr. Guzman. There are not many Spanish-speaking officials at ADX Florence, and Mr. Sabatino is often asked to translate for Mr. Guzman.”
