Bureau of Prisons (BOP) authorities may be seriously evaluating Judge Brian Cogan's recommendation to send Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada” to a medical prison.
“The Court recommends that the defendant be assigned to a Federal Medical Facility,” Judge Cogan wrote in his July 20 life sentence report.
Asked why his client has not been transferred to another federal facility and remains in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Frank Pérez, Zambada's attorney, considered that a “good thing.”
"It's good that [the prison authorities] are waiting. I mean, because this is normal. This is how they treat ordinary people. It takes four to six weeks to move them somewhere," he said. "If they had wanted to send him to ADX [maximum security prison], they would have done it already. They would have picked him up and taken him. This tells me that the Bureau of Prisons is considering it and that they are going to try to figure out the right place, which is why the judge's recommendation is so strong."
Pérez insisted that the delay in the transfer is a good sign for his client, who faces several medical conditions, including diabetes and a chronic knee problem.
“The request made here is that, to the extent of its possibilities and discretion, this court recommend the appointment of BOP to a facility equipped to care for the medical needs of the defendant,” Pérez indicated in the sentencing suggestion.
A part of such document mentions a specific treatment, but it was sealed, so the type of special medical treatment that Zambada would require is unknown.
The three medical prisons for “El Mayo” Zambada
Attorney Pérez suggested sending his client to FMC Butner, in North Carolina, which contains all levels of security for federal prisoners. It also recommended FMC Rochester in Minnesota, which is described by the BOP as a space that has held people who required specialized or long-term medical or mental health care, in addition to having all security classifications. In addition to the MCFP Springfield, Missouri, which is for male federal inmates and provides specialized medical care, for surgeries and psychiatry.
“I trust that it will be one [of the medical prisons] that I suggested, because I think those are the ones that would benefit him,” Pérez added. “I hope in the next few weeks it will be resolved somewhere.”
Unlike Zambada, within hours of his sentencing, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the other leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was sent to the supermaximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, where he is serving his life sentence plus 34 years in prison.
Zambada remains in Brooklyn federal prison under Special Administrative Measures (SAM), which entails extreme isolation standards and communication restrictions.
His arrest in El Paso, Texas, occurred after he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López, son of “El Chapo” Guzmán.
