By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Federal authorities are worried convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman may be planning another jail escape.
It wouldn’t be a first. Guzman, who is lodged at a federal correctional facility in New York after being convicted on 10 counts of drug trafficking and conspiracy to murder, escaped two Mexican prisons in the past.
Those fears have prompted prison officials to deny requests from El Chapo’s lawyers to prove at least two hours of outdoor recreation every week for the former ringleader of the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as access to other accommodations like earplugs and access to the commissary.
“Violate the 8th Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment as well as the fundamental norms of human decency,” his lawyers wrote to a judge in recent weeks, ABC30 reports.
Federal officials pushed back, citing fears of another breakout.
“He sees the window closing because he’s about to get sentenced,” said ABC News Consultant and former FBI Agent Brad Garrett. “Maybe he thinks that his best chance to get away again would be while he’s still in New York.”
