El Chapo Guzman Pleads for Transfer Back to Mexico from US Prison

Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has asked U.S. court authorities to send him back to Mexico, according to court filings on Monday. He is serving a life sentence that he calls "cruel" at a maximum security prison in Colorado.

Extradited to the United States in 2017 after twice escaping Mexican prisons, Guzman faces convictions on charges including drug trafficking and money laundering.

AFP reviewed three letters that the Sinaloa cartel co-founder filed Monday. CBS News obtained one of them, written in grammatically incorrect English.

"This is a polite letter (about) the hardcore evidence that wasn't proven for my case," Guzman wrote in the letter dated April 23.

Directed to the Eastern District Court of New York, the letter asks authorities to recognize his "rights to be request back (sic) to my country." Guzman did not say whether he wants to serve out his sentence in Mexico.

In a letter dated April 20, he said his requests for sentencing documents have gone unanswered. Those documents will not justify "my cruel punishment," he wrote. "The verdict of my trial wasn't fair."

Guzman said he has waited three years for an appeal and cited protection under the First to Fifth Amendments.

The former trafficker has complained before in prison letters about isolation, poor cell conditions and no family visits. In 2023, he appealed to then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for help with what he called "psychological torment" in prison.

Guzman is held at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. The facility has housed high-profile inmates such as Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols. Its security, remote location and austerity have earned it the nickname "Alcatraz of the Rockies."