NEW YORK (AP) — Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman has made an appearance in a New York City courtroom, where a federal public defender entered a not-guilty plea for him.
A hush fell over the Brooklyn courtroom moments before Guzman entered Friday. He looked dazed and wore a dark blue T-shirt, dark blue pants and sneakers.
An indictment charges Guzman with running a massive drug trafficking operation that laundered billions of dollars and oversaw murders and kidnappings.
Guzman answered questions through an interpreter standing to his right and said he could understand the judge’s English.
No bail was sought.
Prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty as a condition of the extradition of Guzman, who’s the convicted leader of the Sinaloa cartel.
