US court sets April 2018 trial date for ‘El Chapo’

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the Mexican drug kingpin and former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, will face trial in the U.S. on April 16, 2018, according to ABC News.

Guzman is facing multiple drug trafficking and conspiracy charge for operating a “criminal enterprise responsible for importing into the United States and distributing massive amounts of illegal narcotics and for conspiring to murder people who posed a threat to the narcotics enterprise,” according to the Justice Department.

Guzman has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

{mosads}Before being extradited to the U.S. in January, Guzman had twice escaped from prison in Mexico, most recently in 2015, when he left the prison through a mile-long tunnel. He was recaptured in Mexico in 2016. 

During a Friday hearing where his tentative trial date was set, Guzman said he wanted to retain his lawyers, even though four witnesses set to testify against him were previously represented by the same public defender’s office — a potential conflict of interest.