Dámaso López Núñez, “El Licenciado” Can No Longer Be Found In US Prison Registry

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

A new Univision article, written by journalist Isaias Alvarado, broke the news that Sinaloa Cartel’s Dámaso López Núñez can no longer be found in the United States’ Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) public prisoner registry. 

Randilee Giamusso, a spokesperson for the US BOP, confirmed to Univision that Dámaso López Núñez was no longer in prison. Giamusso told Univison that "I cannot find information about this person." 

Dámaso’s lawyer Manuel J. Rentería was asked by Univision about the status of his client, but Rentería’s office stated it was their policy to decline to comment on any of their clients. 

It should be noted that, for an unspecified reason, court documents indicate that "Licenciado" was in the custody of the US Marshals Corps, in a "local facility", from February 7 to March 6, 2020.

Dámaso López Núñez’s name now no longer appearing in the BOP registry has led some to speculate about him entering the US Witness Protection Program (WITSEC). Most witnesses within the program are protected by the United States Marshals Service, while protection of incarcerated witnesses is the duty of the BOP. 

However it is important to keep in mind that the same sort of speculation was made about Eduardo Arellano Félix when his expected release date listed on his BOP registry went from “August 18, 2021” to “Unknown”.  Some foolish Borderland Beat contributor (who will remain nameless, link here) have previously jumped the gun on associating changes in the BOP registries with a drug lord entering into WITSEC in previous stories.

But Eduardo evidently did not enter into the program and instead was delivered back to Mexico following the end of his US prison sentence, at which point he was re-arrested.  

Background

Dámaso López, alias “El Licenciado” (“The Attorney”), was believed to be being held at the Canaan Penitentiary, a minimum security prison camp located in Wayne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania state. El Licenciado was arrested back in May 2017 in Mexico City and he was extradited to the United States in July 2018. 

On November 30, 2018, El Licenciado was sentenced by a US judge to serve a lifetime sentence in prison. In February of this year however El Licenciado’s listed expected release date changed to August 11, 2032. It was widely speculated that this sentence reduction was due to key information that an “anonymous” "cooperating witness number 1" provided to US prosecutors that helped prove Emma Coronel was actively involved in aiding the business of her husband, Joaquín Guzmán Loera,  alias "El Chapo". 

Proving Emma’s alleged complicity in specific functions such as acting as a messenger on behalf of Chapo to "promote drug trafficking activities" and actively participating in aiding Chapo’s escape from Altiplano prison in 2015 was key to US prosecutors.  

The testimony of "cooperating witness number 1" greatly aided prosecutors in this regard. FBI agent Eric McGuire cited "cooperating witness number 1," who said he received communications from Coronel on behalf of Guzmán while he was being held in the Altiplano jail. This witness also said that Coronel "helped facilitate" Guzmán's escape.

Sources: Univision, Zeta Tijuana, SDP Noticias, El Universal