Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman sentenced to life in prison

The Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been sentenced to life behind bars in a US prison, a humbling end for a drug lord once notorious for his ability to kill, bribe or tunnel his way out of trouble.

A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down the sentence Wednesday, five months after Guzman's conviction in an epic drug-trafficking case.

The 62-year-old drug lord, who had been protected in Mexico by an army of gangsters and an elaborate corruption operation, was brought to the US to stand trial after he twice escaped from Mexican prisons.

Before he was sentenced, Guzman, complained about the conditions of his confinement and told the judge he was denied a fair trial.

He said US District Judge Brian Cogan failed to thoroughly investigate claims of juror misconduct.

"My case was stained and you denied me a fair trial when the whole world was watching," Guzman said in court through an interpreter.

"When I was extradited to the United States, I expected to have a fair trial, but what happened was exactly the opposite."
Guzman thanked his family for giving him "the strength to bare this torture that I have been under for the past 30 months."
Experts say he will likely wind up at the federal government's "Supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."
There also were reports Guzman was itching to testify in his own defense until his attorneys talked him out of it, making his sentencing a last chance to seize the spotlight. At the trial, Guzman's lawyers argued that he was the fall guy for other kingpins who were better at paying off top