Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

U.S. Gov to El Chapo’s “Legal Dream Team”, no promises we won't go after your fees

by Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

Before they get into the case the new legal team of El Chapo Guzman wanted assurances from the United States government not to go after their paid fees in a form of forfeiture.  On Friday August 11th, the feds sent a letter to the court addressing this and other issues.  [read the letter below in the included scribd document.]
“Certain private counsel have contacted the government and advised that they have obtained signed retainer agreements from the defendant. These attorneys, however, have sought prospective, written assurance that the government will not seek, at any time, to forfeit any legal fees collected by them for their representation of the defendant. In response, the government has advised private counsel that it will not grant a blanket, prospective assurance that it will forgo forfeiture of any and all funds received from the defendant for his legal fees. The government also advised that, should an actual forfeiture issue arise with respect to attorney fees, the parties can address the issue at that time. Therefore, the government respectfully requests that the Court deny the defendant’s request to set a deadline to provide the aforementioned assurance as moot.”
The answer: sorry, no guarantees that we will not go after your paid fees.


At a federal court hearing on Monday,  U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan advised  Chapo’s legal team, that if they  took the case, there was no guarantee that prosecutors wouldn't later seize their fees if they it could been demonstrated that the funds came from his organized crime empire.

Judge Cogan stated; "I'm not going to pressure the government to create a carve-out for counsel fees,"
There is a point of law, that defense monies must be “clean”.  That is why high profile narcos, who qualify being included in the “Forbes wealthiest”  lists, have  used public defenders and do not have a high powered, densely staffed legal team.

In effect, funds they have, or have invested must be proven to not have been acquired through an unlawful  manner or through criminality.

Ditto for any funds used to pay legal fees.  For example from family funds will be scrutinized.  And for that matter if Carlos Slim or Bill Gates suddenly had a mental lapse and wanted to fund Chapo’s defense, they could, but then every aspect of his personal wealth would be subject to government eyes.  Not likely to happen.

A bright spot for the diminutive capo, was that family members were in the courtroom.   Although he was not allowed to speak to his family, he smiled and waved acknowledging their presence.

Tomorrow Chapo will be allowed to visit his sister, the first visit by any family member he has been allowed.  Other than his visits from his legal team, he has been allowed no visitors.  Even his attorneys have had to visit “no contact”, with a glass partition between them.

In a press conference after Monday’s hearing Chapo’s tentative attorney Jefferey Lichtman said,  "We are looking forward, desperately, to come into this case and fight for Joaquin Guzman. ... The guy has a constitutional right to the best counsel he can get”.

69 comments:

  1. Good ol American green dollars. Under the table. That's already in the lawyers hands...

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    1. Can't be proven. That money is in a suitcase like some folded cloths.

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    2. Suitcase payments might happen but if proven they'll be disbarred!

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    3. True @ 2:23...but if they already got the suitcase money...and they are lawyers who no how to hide a few Mill each....watch, and see how many of em take it on "pro-bono", and the other guys will be behind the scenes...or Chapo's people could pay off the PD to take"advice" from these other guys..allot is still possible....he could cut a deal, and have to pay more to the gov, and his lawyers get to keep their's..No way these big shot lawyers are gonna just walk away from the media freight train that is "El Chapo"...they'll make $$$ off their names for books and movies...Chapo can't get any, but his lawyers can...Watch, soon he will be lawyered up....

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    4. After 9/11, rudi giulianni went to work for Mexico City, he got 10 million dollars for 1 year service, 20 times the salary of the US prezident today! And tax free...
      --EPN makes about 1 million dollars a year, plus benefits and bonuses and impunity from the US, more that the US prezident makes today, tax free too.
      But rudi barely had time to exit his building 7" after evacuating in his pants on the WTC before it fell too, demolished by the fumes of the WTC bombing...
      These days rudi is a partner in a law firm in the USSR 5hat gets medals of honor and prizes from Bladdermir Putin himself.
      Other lesser lawyers have to ask for the lord's help before they can go around buying impunity for their own dirty deals and money laundering, and their Lord never fails them.

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    5. If no one represent him. He can call a miss trial. Public pretender won't want to take the case.

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  2. Who's worse America or the cartels? Both take money from American's. Why do we fight the wrong battles? American's buy drugs to relax. Everything is so corrupt. Just blame the drug dealers for now

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  3. Reagrdless of the ambulance chaser he has for an attorney, the cockroach mass murderer will get multiple consecutive life senteces after conviction to be served at ADX until such time the inmate dies of natural causes or otherwise then his body will be carried like trash to the Mexican embassy and deported from our fertile land. Another piece of shit taken out.

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    1. Hi will never ever walk as a free snitch in the usa
      i hope he gets everything he deserves LIFE WITH NO
      PAROLE HE'S A PIECE OF DUMB SHIT....JAJA NO MORE CARNE ASADAS LOL I'M SENDING HEM A CASE OF SOAP.Jefe

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    2. After spending millions on him housing him, proving him his court dates. Yes big win for taxpayers

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    3. 1:53 either that then after conviction take him out back for the firing squad or the hangman. Chapo deserves being alive and cut bit by bit by a chainsaw and tossed into a wood chipper.

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    4. 7:12, I agree he will never get out, but if he gives up say 1 billion, and rats out, say Damaso, Mencho, and God knows who else ( won't be Mayo, or kids dead in 2 sec), he may be able to get a shade better conditions, which are all he's holding out for now...but you know, those ambulance chasers are gonna defend him, and, they will make a ton of money retainer fees or not. That's how it's played. Chapo has big chips to play. The other part is once he has private counsel, he will get private meetings with his attys..which means CONTACT WITH HIS PEOPLE...He can call some shots...it will happen...Chapo knows he won't ever be free again...

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    5. I c a lot of "he will never be free" comments, and all I will say that stranger things happened.
      We hear news that the news agencies and gov chose to tell us and the news might be true, might be lies or combination of both, just look at what cnn did a while ago. They lied, they even went as far as lie and make their own muslim protest...it was like in the movie "Wag the dog" with Dustin Hoffman.

      I am not a fan or cheerleader, I am just a fan of world history going as far as ancient Rome and certain things are repeated over and over again. It really is pretty fascinating to observe all this.

      In conclusion ;-) dont blindly believe news and our or any government.

      Cui bono? To whos benefit? Is an old Latin phrase...the answer to that usually is the right one...

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    6. Bring to mind Manuel Noriega. His punishment was nothing compared to what Chapo will receive and it will be at ADX Florence no doubt about that either. He can rat, snitch beg and butt fuck but the most he may get out of anything is an extra slice of turkey baloney on one of his sandwiches. Nothing more, maybe less. Bye Chapo! Rot in eternal hell you mass murdering cockroach.

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  4. If all else fails i will start snitching again... El Chapo

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  5. Ever ever ever hear of a banker or politician who was subject to the same conditions for paying their attornies???
    Oohh I forgot: they are not even charged and at most get a slap on their wrist (e.g. Wells Fargo laundering 800 million, or HSBC, or “Scooter“ Libby being pardoned etc.).

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    1. Perfectly stated!
      Impunity seems to run in this family.
      Political assurances my friend.
      The political wheels are powerful and continuous.

      E42

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    2. I hope Chapo does snitch on the politians and others he has been bribing and that the US seizes thier asset's also. Anyone from the politians to the generals to the judges to even the distant reletives suspected of receiving funds from Chapo should have any assets in the USA sized, just like any other drug dealer.If the money isn't taited they could go to court and get it back.

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    3. 7:36 - excellent point! Of the 110 billion the US government fined Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley....how many fraudulently earned dollars were spent on their multi-million dollar legal teams to keep the fine from the 16.8 TRILLION the fraud actually cost the tax payer.

      HSBC bank did money laundering for Mexican drug cartels to the tune of $881 billion according to the Justice Department. How much dirty money was paid to their legal eagles to secure a paltry $1.9 billion fine, AND NOT INDICT OR SEND TO PRISON EVEN ONE PERSON! Mexico is corrupt??? What about our own government?

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    4. Exactly...most have no clue how much money these cartels move..VZ paid a billion dollars to the US Government..where's that money?

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    5. 7:36 . Yes .If they are being tried for criminal income . Texas state attorney general got remanded into custody because he run a high chance of committing more financial fraud . Mosy of you keyboard warriors are to young to remember Dan Morales . just a few years back .

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    6. The government knows exacly who the players in the game are but never will be exposed

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    7. 7:36 Wachovia Bank got "acquired" by Wells Fargo after a one too many fine for money laundering, coincidentally Wells-Fargo is heavily owned by Warren Buffett, one of the biggest US billionaires who also owns much of Coca~Cola, including its Coca fields in Perú, why sell away a good thing?
      Mista' Buffett started selling coca by the bottle as a little child, others started selling Cocaine as big nasty ass grown ups.

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    8. 8:20. To suggest Warren Buffet has any association with coca cultivation or processing coca into anything that's about as ludicrous and unfounded a statement that can be imagined.

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  6. Lmao. So lawyers have to risk going it for free?

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    1. Lawyer getting paid under the table never heard of that one before....bribery included?

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    2. They don't have to risk anything. If they view it as a risk they can simply drop El Chapo as a client. If he can't find any high priced lawyers to take on his case because of it he can get a public defender. When the source of your money is well known to be illicit it isn't surprising that the government would take this stance. It's pretty obvious the lawyers would be getting paid from money made through trafficking. They should dump him as a client but won't because they'll find a way to get those greenbacks somehow or another.

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    3. 9:51 . If your serious you just aint been listening . How the hell else do you think drug dealers pay high end lawyers ?

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    4. 11:29; As for anyone an attorney may not accept ill-gotten gains, and a highly demanded attorney resorting to accepting "suitcase money" is ridiculous. Drug dealers who are able to retain top council do so by using cleaned proceeds, or through the divestment of assets where the government can not tie that asset to being purchased with narcotic proceeds. Anyway this will be moot because Chapo has had laundering infrastructure in place so long that they'll never be able to prove every dollar he pays with was through criminal enterprise.

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  7. They all snitch on their rivals to take them off the street, on their bosses to move up in rank, and to gain favor with the government.

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    1. It never fails they either get to the top of the criminal chain that way, or by killing to take over their place. Ever seen big narcs with no enemies?

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  8. Great Job Chivis jus wanna say THANK U and the rest of the BB TEAM!

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    1. and thank you for the kind words. I have a comprehensive article that will be posted which is an overview progress of the case so far. Hopefully today if I can finish it...!

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  9. Why does this say "by Chivis" all you did is copy it from another source. I red this article there yesterday.

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    1. why do you try to squeeze in fake news willito? I use the government document data bank and pressers. If I something is my own work I will add my name as by. There is no where out there that had this article. Some of the facts will remain the same, after all they are the facts. But even about the visits etc it is all on documents filed by both sides.

      So maybe you "red" something yesterday that included actual facts contained here, and "red it there", it is not the same and will not include the document which is from my Scribd webpage

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    2. Lmao!! I "red" that chivis!!

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    3. @9:20AM

      From what source did you read the article from yesterday?

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  10. Only in this corrupt country. The United States.

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    1. Seizing illegally obtained money isn't "corrupt". its part of the law that you cant make money off of illegal ventures. Why do you think laundering money is a thing? Throwing around that word(corrupt) doesn't have some magic powers.

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    2. But in the US you are innocent until proven guilty and you have the right to a trial. This stunt just limits your ability to find good legal console.

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    3. he is considered innocent and he is getting a trial. however, it doesnt matter how the court sees him. If he uses illegally obtained money to pay his legal defense its going to be confiscated. that's how it for anyone one else using dirty money. The laws shouldnt be catered to Chapo or anyone else who has tons of money. If he is found innocent in trial then he made his money legit and the lawyers keep their pay. if they find him guilt that means his money might not have been earned legitimately and the lawyers might have their pay seized if that illegal money was used to pay the lawyers.

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    4. 8:17 Civil forfeiture isn't a criminal case . It is just that . Not beyond a reasonable doubt but proven with a preponderance of evidence . Creating a little doubt about where his money could have come from wont cut it . Civil is it pretty much looks dirty and theirs lots of evidence that it is . A good lawyer can take apart any evidence in civil court that he is anything other than what he is . Sometimes they beat the criminal charge but lose the civil . Oh if he walks , they will never find most of his assets . Then again who is turning the screws on the outside . In his circle , he is likely to be out of the loop after being locked up a few years in the usa . They will just off him when he gets out. HE IS DONE ! D O N E done . And suddenly the world is a little better place .

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    5. WRONG! In the U.S. you are guilty unless you have a good attorney.

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    6. 9:34. That's right. All government cares about is will we win the case...not info your guilty or innocent.

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  11. It's funny how people feel about another's problems but they never see the true picture in the future I hate to say it America will be just another country fighting for power and the control will belong to China or Russia everything our country has built we are destroying with the presidents we have put in power that leads back to this money power which all comes from illegal activity not your or my taxes

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    1. 10:08 In English Ha HA Ha . If China or Russia end up being in control . it wont be because of liberal policies . They exert much more control over their people than the USA has in a long long time . Every dime this sorry fuck has was derived from dirty money . It don't matter if he took drug money and invested it and made millions selling plastic spoons . We GONNA GET IT IF WE FIND IT . Spanish Ja Ja Ja

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  12. USA is the worlds power no matter what president is in control god bless usa

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    1. Does the concept of too big to fail applies to the usa? The greeks, romans, france, uk were once giants... now they are more like big dwarfs? LOL

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    2. 9:21 the last will and testament of a Sir John Rhodes leaves his wealth to the british empire to recover all their former ritish Colonies, including the one they call the US. and the british still own the world from Australia to Belize and Canada, don't even ask how "recovering the US for the Crown" is going...

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    3. Dude US is not the most powerful. It's the shadow government that is powerful that operates all over the world.

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    4. The U.S ows China like 3 trillion dollars. How is that, Chinese are some smart hombres.

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  13. Yet this dude Chapo said he didn't have any money of his own. I, guess when faced with the reality of being defended by a court appointed lawyer instead of an OJ Simpson type then you can come up with the dough for your defense. Tough luck Chaps. Say goodbye to Emma and conjugal visits also (or be prepared to be chaste or turn gay), because you I'm sure you know what happens to prisoners in the U.S. and their wives while they are locked up. If you don't you'll find out the hard way eventually!

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  14. I get it, so they take chapos lawyers 💰 and that's how he pais them off. Chapo then pays the lawyers under the table and everybody is happy...

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  15. the government is already messing up this case. its either on purpose or incompetence. they can later claim that he wasnt given adequate representation becauase the lawyers were worried about their money.

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    1. What about some prisoners' exchange?, if there are not enough us prisoners in mexico some people could force a situation"
      Todos quieren sacar provecho de los que andan ahi de calientes, y ni me la hagan de pedo.

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    2. 11:23 LOL . Yea maybe . If you have ever read one that was presented and shot down you would know that , that bucket wont hold water in the legal system . Chapo will get a appeal regardless . Everybody knows , life automatically get a appeal . So what if he wins his appeal he gets a new trial . By that time there will be evidence compiled against him . If he is still alive . On the upside , if his appeal hasn't happened before he dies, after death his family can have the courts vacate his sentence . Everyone has a right to a appeal . Clear the sorry bastards "good name .

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  16. Good Ole American Dollar. Hard Cash talks and very difficult to trace. A good financial advisor already has a game plan and accounts the Briefcase can get deposited in.. "Dream Team" consist of Dirty Attorneys.

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  17. Lets start a (GoFoundMe) for chapos legal team

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    1. I really like that idea. Beat the DEA ICE and everyone else would me getting those records of donations. But hey Chapo provided a lot of good times.

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  18. Greed knows no boundaries or races. These fucking lawyers that want to defend Chapo are ONLY repeat ONLY repeat ONLY, ONLY, ONLY ONLY ONKY for the money. They could care less how many people Chapo and his people have hurt killed or caused to get addicted to drugs. As long as they can make a buck or more they are there. If they where to be asked to work for an average Joe without a job they would of course care less about him or her. Come to think of it I've never heard of a high profile lawyer do shit for charities also. Repear ONLY, ONLY, ONLY in it for the money hence greed! Make myself clear?

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  19. Yet Cocaine Prices remain the same in LA. Nobody I know has stopped using or felt a pinch in their supply ..... All is normal! Great job DEA your enforcement did absolutely nothing !

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  20. 9:31 we are all on BB for the money,
    same as everybody everywhere,
    but we don't get paid,
    so maybe we just like our readers too much.

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  21. The only thing these lawyers gonna do is take that drug money cuz chapo is going al bote for a long, long time. Chapo probably gonna snitch on himself lol 😂

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  22. Free Chapo. Look at drug prices. If the prices haven't gone way up then arresting Chapo had no effect. If drugs weren't getting into the country the prices would skyrocket. If prices are stable then the market is stable. All that means arresting Chapo did nothing.

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  23. A great majority of the drugs are put back the streets thru nice cooperation between the DEA,the drug company fizer,and even Walgreens.

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