Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has made himself heard again from inside the ADX Florence in Colorado, one of the United States’ most restrictive federal prisons. This time the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel wrote a handwritten letter in English that pleads for “fairness” and claims his constitutional rights have been violated.
In the one-page note, reviewed by the Latin Times, Guzmán addresses the federal court that sentenced him and asks for what he describes as “a fair treatment in this country.” He also writes, “I am seeking attention for my 1st Amendment rights, and the violation of the 8th Amendment was broken.”
This is not the first time El Chapo has complained about his conditions in the Colorado supermax. However, this time is different. The former Sinaloa cartel boss has spent years sending letters and filings about his confinement, but this latest note appears in rough, handwritten English, an unusual detail for a prisoner long described in court records as a Spanish speaker with limited English.
The First Amendmentprotects five fundamental freedoms:
- Religion: You can practice any religion, or none at all. The government cannot establish an official religion.
- Speech: You have the right to express ideas and opinions without undue government interference.
- Press: Media can publish information and opinions without censorship.
- Assembly: People can gather peacefully to protest or express views.
- Petition: You can complain to or seek changes from the government.
The Eighth Amendmentfocuses on fairness in punishment and the justice system. It says:
- No excessive bail (unreasonably high amounts to stay out of jail before trial)
- No excessive fines
- No cruel and unusual punishments
In a 2017 court fight over his pretrial confinement, federal prosecutors said Guzmán was “healthy and learning English” while in U.S. custody. A 2025 filing said he had learned “a little English” at ADX Florence from another inmate who sometimes translated for him with guards.
Guzmán has been serving a life sentence plus 30 years since July 2019, after a Brooklyn jury convicted him on sweeping drug trafficking, firearms, and money laundering charges. The Justice Department said he was sentenced by Judge Brian Cogan as a principal leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and ordered to forfeit $12.6 billion. He is being held at ADX Florence in Colorado, the Bureau of Prisons’ administrative maximum facility, which the agency says is designed for inmates who pose the greatest risks to staff, other prisoners and the public.
His complaints about the prison are not new. In 2024, Guzmán wrote to Cogan saying he had been unable to get calls or visits, including with his twin daughters, and called it “unprecedented discrimination against me.”
AP reported that he asked for permission for his wife, Emma Coronel, to visit as well, but Cogan responded that prison conditions after conviction fall under the Bureau of Prisons, not the sentencing court. Mexican outlets have also reported repeated complaints from Guzmán’s legal team over extreme isolation, weight loss and episodes of tachycardia this year.
Best-faith transcription of the letter, preserving spelling and grammar as written where legible:
Mandate Release
Florence, Co 4/12/26
Hi, to the District Judge in the Eastern
of New York on the behalf of my mandate
release of Joaquin Guzman foreign and U.S.A
laws. This is a polite letter of my constitution
Policy of mexico on the authority of getting
extradite to the United States laws of Power
on giving me a fair treatment in this country.
The emerging of the constitution laws in the
court of law have the rights to connect and
be use for my equal protection on my rights
in this mandate release. This is a concern statement
to the judge of the law on abiding by my
consent on lack of evidence in the federal law,
Thanks to the U.S. district judge on responding
to my request of fairness of the law, In also
am seeking attention of my 1st amendment rights,
and the violation of the 8th amendment was Broken,
Joaquin Guzman
signature
Originally published on Latin Times
