Chicago’s “Public Enemy Number One,” El Chapo, Accused of Bribing Mexican President $100 Million

By Julian Hayda
In this courtroom drawing, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, seated center, speaks to his attorney, Eduardo Balarezo, after a judge denied his request to speak directly to the court, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, in New York. The notorious Mexican drug lord and escape artist is eager to go to trial, his lawyer said Thursday after a U.S. judge set Sept. 5 for jury selection in his drug-trafficking case.
In this courtroom drawing, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, seated center, speaks to his attorney, Eduardo Balarezo, after a judge denied his request to speak directly to the court, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, in New York. The notorious Mexican drug lord and escape artist is eager to go to trial, his lawyer said Thursday after a U.S. judge set Sept. 5 for jury selection in his drug-trafficking case. Elizabeth Williams / AP Photo
In this courtroom drawing, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, seated center, speaks to his attorney, Eduardo Balarezo, after a judge denied his request to speak directly to the court, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, in New York. The notorious Mexican drug lord and escape artist is eager to go to trial, his lawyer said Thursday after a U.S. judge set Sept. 5 for jury selection in his drug-trafficking case.
In this courtroom drawing, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, seated center, speaks to his attorney, Eduardo Balarezo, after a judge denied his request to speak directly to the court, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, in New York. The notorious Mexican drug lord and escape artist is eager to go to trial, his lawyer said Thursday after a U.S. judge set Sept. 5 for jury selection in his drug-trafficking case. Elizabeth Williams / AP Photo

Chicago’s “Public Enemy Number One,” El Chapo, Accused of Bribing Mexican President $100 Million

By Julian Hayda
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Mexico’s billionaire drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has been on trial in a federal courtroom in New York for months. He’s pled “not guilty” on 17 counts, including murder and money laundering charges in Chicago. The Chicago Crime Commission cited him as “Public Enemy Number One,” giving that title for the first time since Al Capone held it in 1930. The scale of El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel was revealed yesterday, when a witness described a moment in 2012 when then-President Enrique Peña Nieto received a $100 million bribe from the drug lord. Peña Nieto allegedly asked for $250 million but was negotiated down to the lower sum. Peña Nieto and another Mexican ex-president, Felipe Calderón, denied ever receiving money from El Chapo. Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump was notably received by Peña Nieto in Mexico in 2016. At the time, many argued Peña Nieto’s invitation justified Trump’s hard-line anti-Mexico policies. To discuss, we’re joined by Milena Ang, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago.