After nearly three months of testimony about a vast drug-smuggling conspiracy steeped in violence, a jury is due to begin deliberations Monday at the U.S. trial of the infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquin B次元官网网址淓l ChapoB次元官网网址� Guzman.

A federal judge in Brooklyn is set to give instructions to jurors in the morning before asking them to begin deciding the verdict for Guzman, who faces life in prison if convicted.

The jury has heard months of testimony about GuzmanB次元官网网址檚 rise to power as the head of the Sinaloa cartel. Prosecutors say heB次元官网网址檚 responsible for smuggling at least 200 tons of cocaine into the United States and a wave of killings in turf wars with other cartels.

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Guzman, 61, is notorious for escaping prison twice in Mexico. In closing arguments, Andrea Goldbarg said he was plotting yet another breakout when was he was sent in 2017 to the U.S., where heB次元官网网址檚 been in solitary confinement ever since.

The defendant wanted to escape B次元官网网址渂ecause he is guilty and he never wanted to be in a position where he would have to answer for his crimes,B次元官网网址� Goldbarg said. B次元官网网址淗e wanted to avoid sitting right there. In front of you.B次元官网网址�

The defence claims GuzmanB次元官网网址檚 role has been exaggerated by co-operating witnesses who are seeking leniency in their own cases. In his closing, defence attorney Jeffrey Lichtman assailed the case as a B次元官网网址渇antasyB次元官网网址� and urged the jury not to believe co-operators who B次元官网网址渓ie, steal, cheat, deal drugs and kill peopleB次元官网网址� for a living.

Last week, newly unsealed court papers revealed disturbing allegations not heard by the jury B次元官网网址� that Guzman had sex with girls as young as 13. A Colombian drug trafficker told investigators the kingpin paid $5,000 to have the girls brought to him, and that he sometimes drugged them, the papers say.

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The unsealing of the documents came at the request of The New York Times and Vice B次元官网网址. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan had ordered prosecutors to review the material B次元官网网址� originally sealed because it was deemed unrelated to the drug charges B次元官网网址� and make portions of it public within four days of the government resting its case against Guzman.

GuzmanB次元官网网址檚 attorneys said their client denies the allegations.

Tom Hays, The Associated Press

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