Judge allows 'El Chapo' more freedom in lawyer meetings

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Manhattan said accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman must be allowed more contact with his lawyer during jail visits, court documents indicate.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said prison officials should modify the attorney visiting room at a Manhattan jail to include a second computer monitor and a slot to pass legal documents through.

Cogan made the ruling Thursday in response to a plea from Guzman's lawyer for in-person meetings with Guzman. Last month, federal magistrate Roanne Mann recommended contact visits.

She said that the former Sinaloa Cartel leader had only been able to contact lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman through video messages or a "scratched and dirty" Plexiglas window.

Mann said she doesn't see a problem with the two men being able to meet face-to-face as long as Lichtman feels safe with his client. Cogan stopped short of allowing the face-to-face meetings.

Guzman, who has twice escaped from prison in Mexico, is being held in a high-security section of the federal jail in Manhattan.

"El Chapo" -- meaning "The Short One" or "shorty" -- so dubbed because of his 5-foot-6-inch frame, was first captured in Guatemala in 1993.

Guzman's cartel is credited with dominating the illegal drug market in nearly the entire United States, according to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The report states the criminal organization is most powerful "along the West Coast, through the Midwest and into the Northeast."