US judge denies El Chapo's request for extradition back to Mexico

MEXICO CITY (CN) — In the latest of a series of handwritten letters from his prison cell in ADX Florence Supermax prison in Colorado, the former boss of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, requested to be extradited to Mexico.

“This is a polite letter on my violation to the courts on the hardcore evidence that wasn’t proven for my case dismiss. I’m asking of the district courts of my rights to be request back to my country and see charged on the violation of my verdict for fairness in the federal law,” he wrote to U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan of the Eastern District of New York in a letter dated April 23 and made public Monday.

But Cogan gave short shrift to the former cartel leader’s plea.

“Some of these documents make no sense and none of them have any legal merit. They are all accordingly denied,” the judge wrote in a brief opinion.

On Feb. 12, 2019, Guzmán was convicted of all 10 counts of a superseding indictment including charges of narcotics trafficking after a high-profile, three-month-long trial in New York City. That summer, Cogan sentenced the former cartel leader to life plus 30 years and $12.6 billion in forfeiture.

Guzmán wrote a previous letter to Cogan on April 10 asserting his First and Eighth Amendment rights were violated, along with other letters requesting a retrial and documents relating to the jury’s decision.

Guzmán is under Special Administrative Measures in the prison, meaning he is held in extreme isolation without any contact with any other prisoners, is under 24-hour monitoring and spends 22 to 24 hours a day in his cell.

In a series of letters published by Mexican news outlet Milenio in 2025, Guzmán complained about the preventative measures in the prison, claiming he was on the verge of madness while suffering the cruel and inhumane conditions.

Guzmán’s extradition request comes on the heels of Rubén Rocha Moya’s decision to temporarily step down as Sinaloa governor on Saturday after the U.S. unsealed an indictment charging him and nine other top Sinaloa officials with conspiring with the Guzmán’s sons — known as the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa cartel.

During a press conference on Monday in Sinaloa, Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch defended Rocha Moya.

“Of course, we had no indication whatsoever. Since the beginning of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, as my cabinet colleagues have already stated, we have seen results, made arrests, and we have never encountered any obstruction from any state government official in continuing or carrying out the actions we have presented to you,” he said.

Harfuch added that Rocha Moya is currently under the protection of the National Guard after the Ministry of Security completed what Harfuch called a risk assessment, though he stressed that Rocha Moya did not request protection.

“In this case it was not a request, but it was recommended that he have a security force,” Harfuch said Monday.

On Sunday, the Sinaloa congress approved the appointment of Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde as interim governor of Sinaloa.

In a press conference Saturday, Moya Rocha announced his decision to step down in order for the Attorney General’s Office of Mexico to investigate the accusations.

“I can look my people and my family in the eye, because I have not betrayed them and I never will. I will demonstrate this firmly when the justice system requires it,” he said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has vowed not to cover for any politicians or state officials but on Thursday demanded from the U.S. irrefutable proof of the crimes.