El Chapo Is Very Sleepy and Ready to Take His Chances in America

Read: El Chapo Might Go on Trial in Brooklyn

Infamous Mexican drug cartel boss El Chapo may not sleep 'til Brooklyn.

When Joaquín Guzmán Loera was recaptured in January after famously escaping prison last July, his lawyers vowed to fight extradition to the United States, where he faces federal cases in several states. But now the Sinaloa cartel boss's lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez says he's trying to negotiate with the American government amid reports that guards at the Altiplano maximum-security prison in Mexico are interfering with his client's sleep.

According to the Associated Press, Mexican officials have copped to waking El Chapo up every four hours for a head count—which is to say really dicking around with the dude's REM cycle. The sleep deprivation and some new visitor restrictions apparently have Guzmán ready to take his chances in the American legal system, and the early indicators are that he'd most likely fall under the jurisdiction of the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn—Attorney General Loretta Lynch's old stomping ground.

While the extradition was originally expected to take well over a year, El Chapo's lawyer says it could take less than two months if he and his client play ball. But the attorney also told Mexico's Radio Formula on Wednesday that they won't drop the appeals in Mexico without a formal plea agreement, which would likely require American prosecutors' promise not to seek the death penalty. (Capital punishment is illegal in Mexico.)

Also on the tunnel maven's wish-list: a lighter sentence at a medium-security prison.

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