At the trial of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, who is popularly known as El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord, info from his past defied revenge from the Sinaloa cartel to give evidence about his terrible and dreadful crimes.
A professional assassin has also described how Mr. Guzmán buried a man alive and burned the two others in a fire. There was a brother of his closest partner who also said that he consistently bribed not only the police but also the military as well as almost every other official in Mexico.
One of the kingpin’s mistresses also took the stand in contradiction of him and remembered how he forced her, naked, into an underpass under a bathtub and pulled her along while escaping from the Mexican marines.
On Wednesday, there was also one last person from the past of Mr. Guzmán, who prosecutors say was contributory in his breakdown but never appeared at the trial. Now, she appeared at his sentencing in New York to tell the emotional toll after being a target of assassins of Mr. Guzmán.
She said, “I am a miracle of God because Mr. Guzmán tried to kill me,”
The woman identified as Andrea Velez has played various roles in the long-running cartel case: a drug trafficker personal assistant; the victim of a homicide conspiracy; and a private F.B.I. informer.
At the sentencing in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, Ms. Velez showed up in order to talk about how she had been affected by the crimes of Mr. Guzmán. However Mr. Guzmán was found to be guilty of killing a lot of people almost dozens, she was the only individual to provide what is identified as a victim-impact statement.
She gave a 15-minute tearful speech at the court, where she told the judge that after her relationship with him had soured, he paid $1 million to a group of Hells Angels in order to assassinate her.
Ms. Velez finally joined the long list of witnesses against Mr. Guzmán by appearing in court which already comprises of the kingpin’s info-tech consultant, his chief Colombian supplier and one of his main American distributors.
Ms. Velez talked about how she survived her assassination plot, her haunting nightmares and the releasing of finally confronting her would-be killer.
She said to Mr. Guzmán, sniffling, “I forgive you as I hope you can forgive me,”
She further said that after working as an undercover for the government for seven years and being in confidentiality, she was prepared to step out of the dark. But even after her arrival, shadows still surround her.
On Wednesday, in the courtroom, Ms. Velez stated that she was very impressed by Mr. Guzmán apparent kind-heartedness and charm when she first met him. At that time he seems to be a polite, well-mannered man who always been concerned about her.
But in the end, she said, she decided that she was suffering from a kind of Stockholm syndrome as well as was not the kingpin’s friend but his enslaved, who may possibly only leave his association “in a plastic bag and feet first.”
“My dreams of grandeur became my worst nightmares,” she told the court, break out into tears. “I lost my family, my friends. I became a shadow without a name.”
