Convicted Drug Lord ‘El Chapo’ Guzman likely off to ‘Alcatraz of the Rockies’
After 11 weeks of trial, Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman was found guilty of ten counts Tuesday, including engagement in a criminal enterprise, money laundering, and drug smuggling.
Soon, Guzman will be sentenced and many are speculating he could end up right here in Southern Colorado at the Florence Federal Supermax Prison.
The Supermax is considered to be the most secure prison in the country. Since it was first built in 1994, no one has ever escaped the facility.
Guzman would potentially join other notorious killer like 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, ‘The Unibomber,’ Ted Kaczynski, and ‘The Boston Bomber,’ Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Of the 400 some prisoners currently calling it home, 23 hours of the day is spent in solitary confinement. Cells are 7 by 12 feet with concrete walls that have just one window facing upward into the sky.
Last year, KRDO’s Heather Skold spoke with former Florence Prison therapist Larry Nutter about the living conditions inside.
“The lights are never turned off, there is a T.V. camera on you 24 hours a day,” said Nutter. “You sit there. That is your life.”
Still, some in Florence have their doubts about a drug lord potentially coming into town. Reasonably so, Guzman famously broke out of two Mexican prisons. First in 2001, and then again in 2015 through a tunnel.
“I am really worried. Our towns are very small around here between Penrose, Canon City, and Florence,” said Florence High School student Kamryn Lopez. “I guess if you could escape two other prisons you could possibly do it somewhere else too.”
On the other hand, some say Florence is the perfect spot for someone like Guzman.
“They already got a lot of dangerous guys there. Supposed to be the most secure prison in the country,” said Leonard Miller, a resident in Florence. “That’s where he belongs in a place like that.”
Prison officials tell KRDO they aren’t sure whether or not Guzman will make the Florence Supermax his next home. They declined to comment further.
That information won’t be for certainty until Guzman’s sentencing hearings, which start in June.
