Writing that it was "plausible" that Guzman could attempt to escape again, Cogan agreed with prosecutors and wrote that the prison conditions are "not designed to punish defendant, nor (are they) excessive or arbitrary." On Monday, Judge Brian Cogan refused the request, saying the detention conditions were made necessary by Guzman's repeated jailbreaks in Mexico. Through his attorneys, Guzman had requested at least two hours of outdoor recreation, in contrast to the single hour of solitary exercise he is currently allowed in another indoor cell. Guzman is currently held in solitary confinement at a high-security prison in Lower Manhattan under special conditions that his lawyers last month claimed violate the constitutional ban on "cruel and unusual punishment." He was also convicted on money laundering and weapons possession charges during a three-month trial in which witnesses described the mob boss beating, shooting and even burying alive those who got in his way. Guzman, 62, is to be sentenced on June 25 and faces life in prison for smuggling tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States. The former Sinaloa cartel chief was convicted on February 12 of crimes spanning a quarter-century after a trial that laid bare his lavish lifestyle and penchant for extreme violence as the head of one of the world's most powerful gangs. A New York judge on Monday denied a request by convicted Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman for better prison conditions, saying he poses an escape risk.
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