After his extradition to the US from Mexico, drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera pleaded not guilty to a 17-count indictment. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
NEW YORK – A judge slapped two members of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's defense team with an electronics ban on Thursday after a review of forbidden courthouse use of a cellphone by the accused Mexican drug lord's wife.
Brooklyn U.S. District Court Judge Brian Cogan penalized the lawyers in a ruling focused on federal courthouse restrictions on electronic devices, as well as special security measures imposed on Guzman — a two-time escapee from Mexican jails.
The accused head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel is on trial on charges he led a violent criminal enterprise that smuggled tons of illegal narcotics into the U.S. He's been held in solitary confinement since his 2017 extradition to the U.S., and his trial is proceeding under extra security.
Cogan penalized lawyer Mariel Colon Miro, who has translated legal filings into Spanish for Guzman, and fellow defense team attorney Michael Lambert, who heads the Manhattan law firm where Colon is an associate.
Cogan barred the lawyers from bringing cellphones, iPads, Apple Watches or other devices with telephone capabilities into the Brooklyn courthouse for one year.
The ruling did not find that the attorneys violated the special security measures. Nor did the judge conclude the lawyers enabled Guzman to circumvent security precautions that bar him from any contact with his wife.
Nonetheless, Cogan concluded that the two violated a courthouse regulation that generally allows only lawyers to use electronic communication technology in the courthouse.
Citing a "lack of candor" by the lawyers during a court review of the matter, Cogan wrote that "Mr. Lambert's and Ms. Colon's conduct demonstrates not only a flagrant disregard of the court's rules, but also a grave misunderstanding of the need for order and the importance of the security measures imposed in this case."
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Calling the ruling "ridiculous," Lambert said in a telephone interview there had been "absolutely no misconduct."
The episode began last month when a court security officer spotted Guzman's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, using a cellphone inside the courthouse. A subsequent review of security video footage showed Coronel also had a cellphone in the courthouse during another day of the trial.
Coronel told the security officer her attorney had given her the cellphone.
When Cogan asked Colon during an ensuing conference with lawyers whether she had provided the device, she replied, "No, I did not," the ruling said.
However, asked more specifically during a Dec. 12 conference whether she had ever given Coronel a cellphone outside of the trial courtroom, Colon "indicated that she would like to think about her response and asked to reply in writing," the judge wrote.
Colon "has failed to file a supplemental affidavit," the ruling said.
Lambert filed an affidavit that acknowledged he shared his cellphone with Coronel, whose main language is Spanish, so she could use Google Translate.
The acknowledgment represented "a clear violation" of a courthouse rule that restricts courthouse use of communication technology, the judge wrote.
Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is known for daring prison escapes. USA TODAY
Although both Lambert and Colon said both were present when Coronel got the phone for translation purposes, courthouse video security footage "shows Ms. Coronel using the cellphone by herself, with neither Mr. Lambert nor Ms. Colon anywhere in sight," the judge's ruling said.
Similarly, Coronel was alone when the security officer spotted her with the cellphone, the ruling added.
"The court does not appreciate Mr. Lambert's and Ms. Coronel's lack of candor. They are strongly cautioned that, in the future, they must be helpful, forthcoming and candid in the representations they make to the court," Cogan ruled. "Mr. Lambert should already know – and Ms. Colon should hopefully now understand – the importance of complete candor to this and any other court in the practice of law."
Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc
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