Prosecutors had already spent almost 11 weeks characterizing Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera as a despicable human being who had no qualms to kill his enemies and bribe officials to get his way. But new documents that were unsealed shortly before jurors were set to begin deliberations contained some horrific allegations that claim on top of everything “El Chapo” also raped underage girls. A cooperating witness who testified in the trial said that the former head of the Sinaloa cartel drugged girls as young as 13 with a “powdery substance” and then raped them. Guzman “called the youngest of the girls his ‘vitamins’ because he believed that sexual activity with young girls gave him ‘life’,” one of his former personal secretaries, Alex Cifuentes Villa, said.

Cifuentes said a woman sent Guzmán photographs of the underage girls and for a $5,000 fee he or his associates “could have the girl of his choice brought to one of (his ranches) for sexual intercourse,” according to the court documents. Cifuentes acknowledges he also raped underage girls but insists he didn’t drug them. Other government witnesses corroborated the claims, according to the documents.

Guzmán’s attorneys vehemently denied the claims. “Joaquín denies the allegations, which lack any corroboration and were deemed too prejudicial and unreliable to be admitted at trial. It is unfortunate that the material was publicly released just prior to the jury beginning deliberations,” Guzmán’s defense team said in a statement sent to news organizations. The documents had been sealed because they were deemed to be unrelated to the drugs charges but were unsealed at the request of the New York Times and Vice News that had complained about the secrecy surrounding the high-profile case.

The 61-year-old Guzmán faces 10 federal counts and has pleaded not guilty. He could be sentenced to life in prison.