Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman won’t be breathing fresh air anytime soon, a judge has ruled.
Brooklyn federal court Judge Brian Cogan sided with prosecutors in his Monday decision, lampooning Guzman’s hopes for outdoor exercise and other prison comforts, such as earplugs and bottled water.
“Defendant’s conditions of confinement are tailored to his specific history, including two prior prison escapes, and his specific crimes, including previously running the Sinaloa Cartel from prison and engaging in multiple murder conspiracies to kill his enemies,” Cogan writes.
The 62-year-old drug kingpin previously requested outdoor exercise, bottled water, access to the general commissary and earplugs — complaining he’d been forced to stuff toilet paper in his ears
Prosecutors fought the request, citing a 1981 attempted prison break from the rooftop of the Metropolitan Correctional Center as a chief concern.
While defense attorneys laughed off that argument — writing in their own papers Guzman possessed zero ability to pull off such an escape — Cogan said he found it “plausible” the drug lord could attempt an elaborate flight from the rooftop if given the leeway.
Regarding Guzman’s other requests, Cogan simply said he would not “second-guess” the Bureau of Prisons as to what was appropriate with an inmate of Guzman’s stature.
The Mexican drug lord was convicted on various drug trafficking charges in February. His sentencing is scheduled for June 25.