Court Docs: El Chapo Associate Orders Hit From Prison.
KEILAR: The notorious drug lord El Chapo may be locked up in the toughest prison, but his cartel's reign of terror may be continuing behind bars. CNN's Brian Todd has been looking into this. What have you been learning, Brian?</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, tonight, we've learned that the tentacles of power of the convicted drug kingpin, who has a horrifying record of violence just on his own, could still be targeting potential witnesses even with El Chapo being held in a supermax prison.</s>TODD (voice-over): He is locked behind bars at America's most secure prison, convicted on multiple counts of drug trafficking. But tonight, CNN has learned the world's most dangerous drug lord may still be lording over his empire. Court documents say a trusted lieutenant of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman offered $25,000 to take out a hit on another former lieutenant while they were both in jail. The target, a former associate of El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel. The documents say the order was to, quote, split his head.</s>MALCOLM BEITH, AUTHOR, "THE LAST NARCO: INSIDE THE HUNT FOR EL CHAPO, THE WORLD'S MOST WANTED DRUG LORD": I think it speaks volumes about how they can still use people in their network, whoever that might be, to send messages to rivals. I think it's not since the mafia, the real mob, years that we've heard of this kind of stuff going on.</s>TODD (voice-over): Court documents don't say the name of the target, but Damaso Lopez Serrano recently testified in court that he had learned that gang members had been offered $25,000 to beat him while he was held at a heavy security facility in Chicago. The hit was never carried out, and Lopez Serrano, according to law enforcement forces, was quickly moved to another facility for his safety. Lopez Serrano has been a key witness against members of the Sinaloa Cartel even though he was once among their top lieutenants and, analysts say, a godson of El Chapo's.</s>BEITH: I think Lopez Serrano is a very big threat to the cartel knowing as much as he does about the sons of Chapo Guzman, knowing as much as he does about Chapo himself. Now, remember, Chapo's been sentenced but that doesn't mean that Lopez Serrano doesn't know tons about Chapo's circle.</s>TODD (voice-over): Lawyers for the 62-year-old El Chapo say he is jailed at America's only supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Experts say, likely, in a seven by 12-foot cell at least 23 hours a day. Former DEA agents tell us it's important that El Chapo be kept there, so he can't continue to run the cartel's operations.</s>MICHAEL BRAUN, FORMER CHIEF OF OPERATIONS, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION: Let's understand something. The hallmarks are -- of organized crime are -- corruption, first. If they can't do that, they'll turn to intimidation. If intimidation doesn't work, then they'll inflict brute violence, right? And we've taken all of those things away from him, OK? He -- you know, right now, he can't manage the Sinaloa Cartel. And guess what, that's the position that he needs to stay in.</s>TODD (voice-over): At his trial, a former associate of El Chapo's testified that his former beauty queen wife, Emma Coronel, played a key role in one of the kingpin's legendary prison escapes although she was never charged. Could El Chapo and his associates get help in running the cartel and order running hits from Coronel?</s>BEITH: She has never shown any willingness to get involved in the -- the ordering, the facilitating of violence. That is an old-fashioned cartel rule. The women do not generally get involved in that.</s>TODD: As for the target of the alleged prison hit attempt, Damaso Lopez Serrano, analysts say it is very likely that he'll be called to testify at the trials of other alleged drug traffickers. So prison officials could be under more pressure than they've ever been under to keep him safe while he's incarcerated, Brianna.</s>KEILAR: And this former cartel associate who was targeted, he has his own track record of extreme violence, right?</s>TODD: Brianna, he is no choir boy. Damaso Lopez Serrano has reportedly admitted having a hand in more than a dozen murders and close to two dozen kidnappings. He is said to have been very close to El Chapo's sons who are now believed to be running the Sinaloa Cartel. He was close to those sons until they all turned on each other.</s>KEILAR: All right, Brian Todd, thank you so much for that report. Coming up, the hunt is on for a sniper who ambushed a sheriff's deputy in southern California. What is behind this attack? And the CEO of overstock.com resigns after revealing a sexual relationship with accused Russian agent Maria Butina.