United States

‘El Chapo' Lawyers Still Haven't Been Paid, Seek Trial Delay

"The defense is insufficiently funded at this time to be properly prepared for a trial less than four months away," his lead defense lawyer wrote

Lawyers for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman have asked a federal judge in Brooklyn to postpone his trial date next year because they have not yet been paid and don't have funds to prepare for an April trial, NBC News reported.

Guzman, notorious for breaking out of two Mexican lockups, was brought to the U.S. a year ago to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges and is being held in near-isolation in a federal jail in Manhattan.

"Due to Mr. Guzmán's conditions of confinement and his inability to speak with specific family members to request that counsel's fees be paid, the defense is insufficiently funded at this time to be properly prepared for a trial less than four months away," lead defense lawyer Eduardo Balarezo wrote in a filing over the weekend.

In November, Balarezo complained that Guzman was hallucinating and losing memory as his mental state deteriorated due to the conditions of his imprisonment.

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