Mexican crime lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, leader of the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel, was found guilty of all 10 federal criminal counts against him, after his trial returned a verdict in the US today. The 61-year-old faces a mandatory sentence of life of prison.

El Chapo, which means "Shorty" in Spanish, was accused of killing thousands of people and pocketing $14 billion from exporting cocaine and other drugs. He faced ten charges, including engaging in a criminal enterprise, use of firearms and international distribution of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs.

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The notorious drug lord was arrested with much fanfare in January 2016 after escaping from a high security prison through a tunnel five months earlier. His wife, former beauty queen Emma Coronel, was waiting for him on the other side. After Guzmán's recapture, he was extradited to the US, and the couple has only been able to communicate with each other through rigorously screened letters.

Since Mexico refused to seize Guzmán's assets, Coronel reportedly has access to "hundreds of millions" in cash and real estate. During his dramatic trial, the 29-year-old was a regular at the courtroom, and cackled with laughter while his mistress wept on the stand. After the verdict was read, Guzmán reportedly looked back at his wife and smiled, and she smiled back, placing her hand over her heart.

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For two and a half months, the jury heard explosive testimony from Guzmán's former associates who cooperated in hope of reducing their sentences. They described ghastly murders, horrific torture and astonishing government corruption. Witnesses claimed El Chapo drugged and raped girls as young as 13, owned a diamond-encrusted pistol and gold-plated AK-47, and bought off former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto for $100 million. (Nieto denies this claim.)

One cocaine supplier, Juan Carlos Ramirez, also known as  also known as 'Chupeta' or 'lollipop,' revealed he had extensive plastic surgery to avoid police capture. "I altered the physical appearance of my jawbone, my cheekbone, my eyes, my mouth, my ears and my nose," the former North Valley Cartel leader explained. The New York Post described his new face  "a lizard-like look of stretched white skin, extreme cheekbones and a giant mouth."

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Guzmán started out at the bottom of the Guadalajara Cartel, then created his own empire, becoming the most powerful drug lord since Pablo Escobar. Mexican authorities began pursuing him in 1993, when he was blamed for the assassination of the Roman Catholic cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo at the Guadalajara airport. He was convicted for the murder, and escaped from prison in a laundry cart in 2001.

Prosecutors said that 'El Chapo' was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US during his time as the cartel's leader. Reportedly he smuggled 200 tons of drugs across the border using various methods, such as tunnels, tractor-trailers, yachts, airplanes, cargo trains, and submarines. But now his reign of terror has finally come to an end.

Guzmán is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25.

On Tuesday, February 12, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was found guilty on 10 counts of various drug trafficking charges, and now faces spending the rest of his life in the only "supermax" prison in the United States.

The 61-year-old Mexican kingpin had previously been the leader of the world's largest drug smuggling operation - the Sinaloa cartel in northern Mexico. His infamous criminal career spans decades, and his crimes include the murder of rivals, money laundering, and weapons offenses.

However, after being found guilty at a US District Court in Brooklyn, the Daily Mail reports that "El Chapo" is expected to be sent to US Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, aka ADX Florence, the country's only "supermax" prison that is also referred to as the Alcatraz of the Rockies.

Now, newly released footage from the US Department of Justice shows the moment Guzmán first touched down on US soil following his extradition from Mexico, as per their government's ruling. In the footage, "El Chapo" appears visibly shaken, wiping tears away from his eyes as officials lead him into custody.

Check out the unsettling footage in the video below:

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The footage was released following Tuesday's verdict, and follows a seemingly stunned Guzmán being escorted by DEA agents through an airplane hanger.

The kingpin's trial came to an end after he was found guilty of the following charges:

• Engaging in a criminal enterprise
• International Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine and Marijuana Manufacture and Distribution Conspiracy
• Cocaine Importation Conspiracy
• Cocaine Distribution Conspiracy
• International Distribution of Cocaine
• International Distribution of Cocaine
• International Distribution of Cocaine
• International Distribution of Cocaine
• Use of firearms
• Conspiracy to launder narcotics proceeds

The jury consisted of eight women and four men, who deliberated for roughly 34 hours over six days to finalize their verdict, 9News reports.

Guzmán's defense attorney Eduardo Balarezo said following the verdict: "We are obviously disappointed with the jury's verdict in the trial of Joaquín Guzmán Loera but are respectful of the process and the jury's decision. We were faced with extraordinary and unprecedented obstacles in defending Joaquín."

ADX Florence holds many of America's most dangerous convicts, and as well as having "virtually no contact with other inmates or prison guards", the Daily Mail also states that Guzmán's neighbors will be "terrorists, murderers, notoriously violent inmates, and rival gang members."

Inmates are confined to "control units" - which act as a "prison within a prison" - for up to 23 hours a day, and the facility is currently home to 402 male prisoners.
US Attorney Richard Donoghue told the press following the trail: "This conviction is a victory for the American people who have suffered for so long and so much while Guzman made billions pouring poison over our southern border."

Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzmán has finally been taken to trial, after two prison escapes and numerous drug charges levelled against him.

Even the opening statements from the trial earlier this month were chilling, revealing that even some of his family members weren't safe from his "thirst for blood," but now focus has moved to one of his associates who has testified.

Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, Colombian leader of the North Valley Cartel, took to the stands on Thursday to talk about his twenty years in the game, during which he estimated that he helped to import approximately 40,000 kilos of cocaine into the United States, and ordered the death of 150 people - including some victims in the US.

Ramirez - also known as 'Chupeta' or 'lollipop' - explained how he would drop the cargo from his planes at landing strips, where local cartels would transport them to Los Angeles. His operation would move the drugs all the way to New York by hiding them inside cars with hidden compartments, airplanes, or even tractor trailers.

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When he began working with 'El Chapo' in the early 90s, he found that the drug lord wanted a bigger cut (40% instead of 37%), but soon found that he made more with him. “He said, ‘I’m a lot faster. Try me and you’ll see,’” Ramirez recalled. Guzmán reportedly then got the cocaine across the border in less than a week, while other smugglers tended to take over a month.

“That was one of the first times the Mexican drug traffickers delivered my cocaine that quickly,” Ramirez said, revealing how their relationship became concrete. However, it wasn't long before Ramirez was on the run from authorities - and went so far as to reconstruct his face with plastic surgery to avoid arrest.

His identity erasure began in the 90s, where he would pay off all the officials he could to have every fingerprint, photo, or other record of him erased from the books. But after a stint in prison, he fled the country entirely, heading to Brazil, where he completely transformed his appearance.

Once there, he claimed he was in hiding at an extravagant mansion, where he would only ever leave for his plastic surgery procedures, as well as midnight bike rides. During this period, he still continued to operate his vast drug empire from afar, making sure to use a variety of disguises to keep from being captured by authorities.

“I had changes done to my face,” the former North Valley Cartel leader explained. “I altered the physical appearance of my jawbone, my cheekbone, my eyes, my mouth, my ears and my nose.”

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While there have been immediate comparisons to the plot of the 1997 film Face/Off, Ramirez' new face was quite different, described by the New York Post as "a lizard-like look of stretched white skin, extreme cheekbones and a giant mouth".

Despite the changes he made, he was still caught. In 2007, his voice was picked up by a tapped phone, and then identified as Ramirez by US federal agents.

After starting from the bottom of the Guadalajara Cartel, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán created his own notorious empire. He became the most powerful drug lord since Pablo Escobar, the boss of the dangerous Sinaloa Cartel. El Chapo - which means "Shorty" in Spanish -  is accused of killing thousands of people and making billions of dollars from exporting cocaine, among other drugs.

But as we've learned from gangster movies, for every rise, there's a fall. Currently the 61-year-old is locked in a New York City prison, awaiting trial for money laundering and drug trafficking. Due to his notorious criminal past, which includes two successful prison escapes, he is being held in solitary confinement. But while he's living his worst life, his 29-year-old beauty queen wife is living her best life.

Emma Coronel married El Chapo in 2007, when she was eighteen years old. Although her husband got busted, his assets have yet to be seized. "There is no political will in Mexico to seize El Chapo’s or any other drug trafficker’s assets in the country,” a federal law enforcement source explained to the The New York Post. Reportedly the drug lord's family has access to "hundreds of millions" of dollars in cash and real estate.

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So, Emma is flaunting her luxurious lifestyle on social media. On Instagram, she shared a photo of her seven-year-old twin girls holding designer handbags. In addition, she posted a photo of their lavish Barbie-themed party complete with a three-tiered birthday cake and enormous pink Barbie Dreamhouse. Pretty cute, until you realize it was paid for by 'blood money.' "The whole story with her is so surreal,” a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent told the Post. "She goes around and flaunts her wealth and lifestyle in front of everyone’s face."

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Maybe Emma's broadcasting her glamorous life to thumb her nose at authorities. The former beauty queen isn't allowed to visit her husband in prison, because authorities suspect she'll help him escape. (When El Chapo infamously tunneled out of prison in 2015, she was waiting at the other side.) "She’s too much of a security risk," stated the federal law enforcement source. "Given that he has escaped so many times, no one wants to take any chances that he is giving his wife directions for a new escape attempt."

So, Emma and her husband can only communicate through rigorously screened letters. El Chapo does not have internet access in prison, so you won't see him post any emoji-filled comments underneath his wife's Instagram photos. Emma has admitted the "private pictures" are legitimate, but denies that she manages her social media.

"I want to clarify that I don’t have any social media sites and that I am not the one who is posting those pages," she wrote in a letter to the Mexican press. "I never wanted to be in a situation to have my life exposed. I am not interested in exposing my life in front of millions of people who I don’t know... I ask what I have always shown everyone, and that is respect."

On Tuesday, Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán, more commonly referred to as "El Chapo", was found guilty of 10 various drug trafficking-related charges at a US District Court in Brooklyn.

Guzmán will be returning to court to be sentenced on June 25, but US Attorney Richard Donoghue has already told reporters that El Chapo will have "no escape" from his conviction: "It is a sentence from which there is no escape and there is no return".

El Chapo not only became infamous across the world for leading the world's largest drug trafficking network - the Sinaloa cartel of northern Mexico - but also for his ability to escape any prison he's been inside. In 2001, Guzmán was able to escape a maximum-security prison in the Mexican state of Jalisco, in a carefully orchestrated jailbreak that allegedly cost Guzmán $2.5 million.

In 2015, El Chapo escaped from yet another maximum-security facility in Mexico, known as the Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1. The kingpin was able to escape through a long tunnel that had been dug beneath the prisoner showers, and he even had his motorcycle waiting for him for a speedy escape.

But following his extradition in 2017, Guzmán will be sent to a jail on US soil, where he is expected to spend the rest of his life. As of this writing, it is believed the Cartel leader will see out his final years in the Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado (ADX Florence), which is also referred to as "the Alcatraz of the Rockies".

Referred to as "Hell in a very small place", the only way to really know how bad life is like on the inside is to hear about it through the words of a former inmate. Check out the video below to see rare footage of inside the "supermax" prison, and to hear what it's like to serve time there from former inmate Raymond "Ray" Luc Levasseur:

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ADX Florence is the only "supermax" prison in the US, and is currently home to some of the most dangerous criminals to ever pass through the justice system - including Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

Speaking to FOX News, Levasseur spoke candidly about the five years he spent inside the ADX Florence:  "It's a traumatic experience. [...] It produces this nightmarish mindset, that I think has a tendency to get more into the paranoic and the violent."

Prisoners spend 23 hours a day inside their cells, which are known as "control units", specifically designed to deprive the inmates of any contact with the outside world. El Chapo will be unable to communicate with anybody once locked inside his cell - including the 402 other male inmates.

Speaking to Reuters on the grounds of anonymity, one former inmate stated: "Those guys at Guantanamo had it much better than we did". In fact, several inmates over the years have tried to sue ADX over the "inhumane" conditions.

Related: Footage shows 'El Chapo' wiping away tears after being extradited to the US:

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Many inmates have attempted to commit suicide after being imprisoned at ADX Florence, with at least nine of those being successful.

With Guzmán's sentence hearing on June 25, it is inevitable that the world's most dangerous living druglord will be sent to ADX Florence, and this time, the chances of escape have never been smaller.