The prosecution has demanded a guilty verdict in its final plea in the trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in New York. The investigators had presented in the process a "flood of evidence" against the former leader of the infamous Sinaloa cartel, said prosecutor Andrea Goldbarg.
"Do not let him escape his responsibilities," Goldbarg called out to the jury during the more than six-hour plea. "Hold him accountable for his crimes, convict him on all charges."
During the trial, the twelve jurors had prosecuted the testimony of 56 witnesses, including 14 of Guzmán's previous employees, seeing hundreds of documents and hearing dozens of intercepted phone calls.
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Guzmán has to answer in New York for, among other things, drug smuggling, arms trafficking and money laundering - and face life imprisonment. According to the indictment, the Mexican Sinaloa cartel under his leadership allegedly smuggled nearly 155 tons of cocaine and other drugs into the United States between 1989 and 2014.
The process of massive security measures against the 61-year-old had begun in early November. Guzmán himself had announced on Monday not want to testify to his own defense. His lawyers advised him to do that.
His defense should hold on Thursday her closing plea. The jury could then start their deliberations on Friday. How long the jury needs for its verdict and when a sentence could be announced in the case of Guzmán's sentencing is open.