Accused drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is so self-obsessed that he sat down with actor Sean Penn for a now-infamous interview in hopes of scoring a book and movie deal, one of his lawyers admitted to jurors Wednesday.
El Chapo lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said the Rolling Stone article about the clandestine sit-down between the “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” star and the diminutive alleged drug lord was a “crucial piece of evidence in this case.
“Mr. Guzman was someone who, for better or for worse, enjoyed the notoriety of being ‘El Chapo,'” Lichtman said as he resumed opening statements that began the day before in Brooklyn federal court. “You’ll find there was an effort by Mr. Guzman to have a movie and a book made about him.”
Penn and Mexican telenovela actress Kate del Castillo linked up with the notorious accused leader of the Sinaloa Cartel at one of his secret hideouts in Mexico in 2015.
The meeting was brokered by del Castillo, who was interested in making a biopic about Guzman.
Guzman risked tipping off authorities to his whereabouts in order to do the Penn interview, which was published a day after the accused drug lord was nabbed in January 2016.
But he was desperate for the publicity, his lawyer acknowledged.
“Why else would he do something as insane as that?” Lichtman posed to jurors.
In the controversial interview, Guzman brags about his powerful position and shows no qualms about feeding into the violent and deadly drug industry.
“I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world,” Guzman boasted. “I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats.”
But Lichtman said Guzman was hell-bent on talking up his untouchable status because “if he admitted he was broke,” there’d be no chance of a Hollywood deal.
Lichtman also worked to discredit some of the prosecution’s cooperating witnesses as drug-addled murderers. He said they only agreed to testify against Guzman to lessen their own prison sentences.
One of the cooperators, Miguel Angel Martinez, had a “4-gram daily cocaine habit” that lasted 15 years, the lawyer claimed.
“That’s enough for four frat parties in the 1980s,” he said. “The inside of his nose basically fell out.”
Lichtman tried to instill fear in jurors by claiming ex-Sinaloa Cartel cohort Damaso Lopez Nunez, who will also take the stand, has murdered before.
“Damaso killed someone in 2017 right before he came to America,” he said. “That was an extra. He’ll be out [living] amongst you as well.”
He added that the cartel’s lawyer, Herman Lozaro, who will also testify, received an “A-plus in bribery-officials class.”
An alternate juror nodded as Lichtman wrapped up his openings by telling the panel, “There’s a little part of you that already thinks he’s guilty.”
But he told them, “You wouldn’t want your loved [ones] to be prejudged.”
“This case is built on a foundation of lies and is the product of manipulation,” Lichtman added. “Mr. Guzman is innocent of all charges.”
Guzman, 61, is accused of pumping tons of narcotics into the United States during a decades-long reign atop the world’s most prolific drug enterprise. He faces life in prison.