El Chapo: What to know about convicted drug kingpin

Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is the longtime head of the multibillion-dollar Sinaloa drug cartel.

At the trial, Guzman’s lawyers argued he was the fall guy for other kingpins who were better at paying off top Mexican politicians and law enforcement officials to protect them while the U.S. government looked the other way. They said witnesses’ descriptions of El Chapo leading a lavish lifestyle featuring private planes, beachfront villas and a private zoo were overblown, and that there’s no chance the U.S. government could collect the multibillion-dollar forfeiture. Fremont County, CO, USA - February 9, 2015: The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado. Known as The Alcatraz of the Rockies, the supermax prison is home to some of the most notorious inmates in the US federal prison system.(iStock) Fremont County, CO, USA - February 9, 2015: The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado. Known as The Alcatraz of the Rockies, the supermax prison is home to some of the most notorious inmates in the US federal prison system.(iStock) Guzman, whose two dramatic prison escapes in Mexico fed into a legend that he and his family were all but untouchable, was extradited to the United States in 2017.