The imprisoned Sinaloa Cartel founder has sent new letters to a federal judge while officials say his communications remain a public safety concern.
FLORENCE, CO — Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has renewed his request to be sent back to Mexico from a U.S. supermax prison, while federal officials allege he used contacts behind bars to send secret messages tied to cartel activity.
Guzmán, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is serving life in prison plus 30 years after his 2019 conviction in New York. His latest letters to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan have put new attention on his confinement at ADX Florence, the high-security federal prison in Colorado. The filings also come as U.S. authorities say strict limits on his communications are needed because of his history of escape, violence and cartel control.
In a handwritten letter dated May 1, Guzmán asked again to be transferred to Mexico, where he says he wants to face pending legal matters. He also blamed the Mexican government for violent crimes he says were wrongly tied to him. “They blamed me for things I didn’t do, all because of who I am,” Guzmán wrote, according to court information released this week. Cogan had already rejected earlier requests from Guzmán, saying several recent filings had no legal merit. The judge said he had received as many as five requests from Guzmán in about two weeks.
The request followed another letter in which Guzmán asked for “fair treatment under the law” and cited constitutional protections. In other recent messages, he has complained about harsh prison conditions, limited family visits, isolation, searches and a lack of access to some legal materials. Guzmán has said he has not received fair treatment since his conviction. His lawyer, Mariel Colón, has previously said his confinement is inhumane and has harmed his health. Federal officials have not treated those complaints as a reason to loosen his restrictions.
The new dispute is tied to a Bureau of Prisons report that accused Guzmán of finding ways to communicate with his sons despite special rules meant to block outside criminal contact. The report said authorities discovered in February 2024 that Guzmán was secretly exchanging messages with his children, who are accused of helping lead a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel known as Los Chapitos. Officials said messages moved through a narrow opening in the prison system: visits involving legal representatives and other approved contacts. The allegations have not changed Guzmán’s sentence, but they have strengthened the government’s argument for keeping his communications tightly controlled.
After the alleged messages were found, prison officials moved to cut or limit some family contact. Authorities blocked phone communication between Guzmán and his sister Bernarda, who had been among the few relatives in Mexico allowed to speak with him. Officials also required a lawyer to be present for visits involving his twin daughters and paralegals. Emma Coronel, Guzmán’s wife, has not been allowed to visit him since his 2017 extradition from Mexico. Coronel was later sentenced in the United States for her role in cartel activity and was released in 2023.
Guzmán’s current prison rules are known as special administrative measures, or SAMs. They are used for prisoners whom officials consider a risk if allowed normal communication. Under those limits, Guzmán’s letters, calls and visits can be reviewed by federal agents. Officials have said some of his letters have taken a long time to clear review and others have stayed in government files. He is allowed limited time outside his cell, but officials say he is separated from other prisoners and kept from speaking with them.
The Bureau of Prisons report said the government remains concerned that Guzmán could obstruct cases involving his sons, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salazar, known as “El Nini,” and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Zambada, a longtime Sinaloa Cartel figure, was taken into U.S. custody in 2024 after a major operation that also involved one of Guzmán’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. The cartel has since faced a violent internal split involving factions tied to Guzmán’s children and Zambada’s network. U.S. officials say that conflict is one reason they are watching Guzmán’s communications closely.
The Justice Department’s case against Guzmán was among the largest drug trafficking prosecutions in U.S. history. A federal jury convicted him in February 2019 after a three-month trial on all 10 counts in a superseding indictment. Prosecutors said the Sinaloa Cartel moved massive amounts of cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin into the United States for decades. They presented testimony from cooperating witnesses, drug seizure records, weapons, ledgers, messages, videos, photographs and intercepted recordings. Cogan sentenced Guzmán in July 2019 and ordered him to forfeit $12.6 billion.
At trial, prosecutors said Guzmán used tunnels, boats, planes, trains with hidden spaces and other routes to move drugs into U.S. cities including New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Witnesses described a cartel built on bribes, armed guards, kidnappings and killings. Guzmán has denied key parts of that record in his recent letters, saying violence was blamed on him because of his reputation. Prosecutors and prison officials have pointed to that same record as proof that he remains dangerous even while locked away.
Guzmán’s prison complaints are not new. In 2023, he asked then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for help, saying he was suffering psychological torment in U.S. custody. Mexican officials said at the time they would review the request, but his sentence and the risks tied to his case made any transfer uncertain. The United States and Mexico have a prisoner transfer agreement, but such transfers are not automatic and can be blocked by the nature of the conviction, the sentence and national security concerns.
ADX Florence has housed some of the most closely watched prisoners in the federal system. The prison is known for extreme isolation, tight control of movement and strict screening of communications. Guzmán was sent there after two escapes from Mexican prisons, including his 2015 escape through a tunnel from the Altiplano prison. That escape became a symbol of both his reach and the corruption that allowed him to keep power while in custody. U.S. officials have cited those escapes in arguing that normal prison rules are not enough.
For now, Cogan has denied Guzmán’s recent requests, and no transfer to Mexico has been ordered. His letters remain part of the court record, while federal officials continue to review whether his prison restrictions should stay in place. The next milestone is any further court response to new filings or any formal government action on his confinement rules.
Author note: Last updated May 9, 2026.