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The task of defending Guzmán, who stands accused by the government of killing thousands of people and smuggling tons of drugs into the United States in a rotating fleet of planes, yachts, fishing boats and submersibles, is likely to be the challenge of Lichtman’s legal career. After all, before he was extradited to Brooklyn this winter, Guzmán was convicted of drug trafficking charges in Mexico and twice served time in — and twice escaped from — high-security prisons in his homeland. While he was on the run last year, he also gave an interview to the actor Sean Penn for Rolling Stone magazine — “El Chapo Speaks” — in which he proudly stated: “I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world.”

Lichtman suggested that what seemed to be a confession by his client might not be entirely relevant to the charges that Guzmán faces in Brooklyn.

“The man has been convicted in the court of public opinion times 100, but it doesn’t mean he’s guilty of the crimes that he’s been charged with,” Lichtman said. “Whatever he said to Sean Penn, I don’t know that it suggests he did anything wrong in the Eastern District of New York.”

Although Lichtman said he had already met with Guzmán on numerous occasions, he has not yet filed an official notice of appearance in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. That is because, as part of its case, the government is seeking to seize from Guzmán $14 billion in alleged drug profits. Given that the forfeiture claim could easily impoverish his client, Lichtman is naturally concerned about getting paid. But he said that he is also concerned about Guzmán who, since arriving in New York, has been held in severe confinement in the ultra-secure solitary wing of Manhattan’s federal jail.

“The conditions he’s been suffering under since January are the most horrific I’ve ever seen — terrorists at Guantánamo Bay have it easier than this guy does,” Lichtman said. “It’s easy to just bury him, but he’s still a human being and still deserves his rights.”