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 / Updated By Dareh Gregorian 
 
 "El Chapo" won't get his hug. 
 
 A federal court judge in New York has denied Joaquin Guzman's request to hug his former beauty queen wife before opening arguments in his drug trafficking trial next week. 
 
 Guzman, whose nickname translates to "Shorty," faces life in prison if convicted. 
 
 In a letter to the judge presiding over the case earlier this week, one of his lawyers asked "that Mr. Guzman be allowed to give his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, a brief momentary greeting to include perhaps an embrace" before the proceedings begin. 
 
 In his ruling Thursday, Brooklyn federal court judge Brian Cogan said he was "sympathetic to the request." 
 
 "As defense counsel points out, defendant’s conduct during what are surely difficult proceedings and conditions of confinement for him has been exemplary, and he has displayed considerable grace under pressure," the judge wrote — but he added he had no choice but to deny it. 
 
 Cogan noted that he'd previously upheld the government's "restriction that prohibits defendant from communicating with or having any physical contact with his wife" in order to prevent the notorious drug lord "from coordinating any escape from prison or directing any attack on individuals who might be cooperating with the Government." 
 
 He added "the same concerns that warranted their implementation in the first place still exist today. If anything, this is especially true on the eve of trial, when the reality of the potential liability defendant faces if convicted may be setting in and his motivation to escape or threaten witness might be particularly strong." 
 
 Prosecutors say Guzman, who twice escaped from high security prisons in Mexico, was running "the largest drug trafficking organization world," and used murder, kidnapping and torture to maintain his hold on his Sinaloa Cartel. 
 
 He was extradited to the United States last year, and has been held in solitary confinement ever since. Guzman lawyer Mariel Colon Miro had told the judge that allowing Guzman a hug would be a "humanitarian gesture." 
 
 Guzman, 61, married Coronel Aispuro in 2007, when she was 18. She'd been crowned Coffee and Guava Queen in Sinaloa earlier that year. ||||| El Chapo’s beauty-queen wife was caught with a cellphone in the Brooklyn federal courthouse where his case has been playing out — and electronics are strictly forbidden. 
 
 Emma Coronel Aispuro was ratted out by prosecutors who requested she go through security again before a secret cooperating witness takes the stand Monday afternoon. 
 
 Prosecutors asked that “Ms. Coronel be required to go through the metal detector again,” claiming there is “footage of her having a cellphone in court, which she’s not supposed to have,” Judge Brian Cogan told the lawyers, after he dismissed jurors for lunch. 
 
 It’s not clear if Aispuro — who married notorious Sinaloa cartel drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in 2007 — was seen with her phone in the courtroom. 
 
 But members of the public are barred from bringing electronics into the courthouse altogether. They must be checked in after going through security in the lobby. 
 
 Members of the media and public are also required to go through metal detectors before entering the eighth-floor courtroom. 
 
 The 29-year-old mom hasn’t missed a day of her hubby’s drug-trafficking trial since it began earlier this month. She has been listening to translations of testimony on headphones — and gave a little smirk when she was called out by Cogan. 
 
 The judge decided to break for lunch instead of immediately going into the next witness, whose identity has been shrouded in mystery. He previously ruled that sketch artists in the courtroom are prohibited from drawing the witness and must only portray him with a blank face and generic features. 
 
 The government has gone to great lengths to protect its cooperating witnesses, who could be risking their lives by testifying against Guzman. 
 
 Prosecutors’ first turncoat witness, Jesus Zambada, a former sub-leader in the Sinaloa cartel, was flanked by a US Marshal during his days on the witness stand. 
 
 Related Video 0:38 El Chapo’s wife stuns as she appears for drug lord’s trial ||||| FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2016 file photo, a handcuffed Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — He's locked up 23 hours a day. His wife can't visit him. He can't call anyone, except his lawyers. He even was denied water, his lawyers say. 
 
 The strict jail conditions for notorious Mexican drug lord and escape artist Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman were outlined on Friday by defense attorneys in a failed bid to get a judge to loosen them. 
 
 Guzman smiled at his common-law wife, Emma Coronel, as he was led into the Brooklyn courtroom under heavy guard by deputy U.S. marshals at his second court appearance since being brought to the United States on Jan. 19. 
 
 "This was so far the only way she has been able to see him," defense attorney Michelle Gelernt said afterward with a silent Coronel at her side. 
 
 Guzman, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of running a massive drug trafficking operation that laundered billions of dollars and oversaw murders and kidnappings. He's being held at a high-security federal jail in Manhattan, with U.S. officials mindful of how he twice escaped from prison in Mexico, the second time via a mile-long tunnel dug to the shower in his cell. 
 
 Defense lawyers complained to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan on Friday that the restrictions make it difficult for him to make decisions with them about how to fight the charges. They claimed his jailers are so zealous, they denied him water during a recent meeting with the defense team. 
 
 "I don't think there's any thought that if I have the guards give him a glass of water during a three-hour meeting that somehow that's going to effectuate his escape," Gelernt told reporters outside court. 
 
 But Cogan, after alluding to having secret correspondence with the government about the risks of guarding Guzman, told the defense he wouldn't weigh in on the jail conditions. 
 
 "Based on what I know about this case, there are grounds for extra security measures," the judge said, with Guzman listening through a Spanish interpreter. 
 
 Guzman is due back in court on May 5.
– The trial of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman begins in Brooklyn Tuesday, and it won't include a hug between the drug kingpin and his wife. NBC News reports his lawyers had asked that he be permitted to give the former beauty queen "a brief momentary greeting to include perhaps an embrace" in advance of the proceedings, but on Thursday, Brooklyn federal court Judge Brian Cogan ruled that while Guzman has indeed "displayed considerable grace under pressure," the government had barred him from having any physical contact or communication with Emma Coronel Aispuro as a way of preventing him "from coordinating any escape from prison or directing any attack" on witnesses. And that's hardly the only interesting element of the trial. Here's what you need to know: What he's on trial for: CNN reports the 61-year-old faces charges of international drug trafficking, conspiring to murder rivals, gun violations, and money laundering. It's all tied to his alleged position as leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which the BBC reports is being described by prosecutors as the No. 1 supplier of drugs to the US. The trial is expected to last as long as four months, and he faces a potential life sentence if convicted.