Eduardo Balarezo (C), lawyer for Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman speaks with media outside the United States Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 14 August 2017. Guzman, known as 'El Chapo', was extradited from Mexico in January to face multiple criminal charges for running a massive drug and money laundering operation. A judge in New York has refused, 14 August, to guarantee that private lawyers seeking to represent Guzman will get paid. EPA/ALBA VIGARAY 
Jury selection is set for November 5 even though "El Chapo's" attorneys insist that they cannot be ready to represent him due to the huge number of documents in the case.
The trial is expected to take four months.
Guzman, 61, is accused of running the Sinaloa crime syndicate and has been held in New York since being extradited to the United States on January 19, 2017, after twice escaping from prison in Mexico.
He faces 17 charges. If convicted, he is likely to spend the rest of his life in a maximum-security US prison.
Jeffrey Lichtman, one of his defense lawyers, told federal judge Brian Cogan it was still impossible to be prepared, in the last hearing before trial.
The judge denied his request for an additional delay. DM