Prosecutors: Drug lord 'El Chapo' should get life in prison

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 City. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)

NEW YORK -- U.S. prosecutors want the convicted Mexican drug lord known as "El Chapo" to spend his life in prison.

The federal government said in papers filed Wednesday the court should sentence Joaquin Guzman to the statutory mandatory minimum of life imprisonment plus an additional 30 years.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to order restitution for the victims in an amount to be later determined.

Guzman's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, called the sentencing request "superfluous." He also said the restitution was "money in theory and not reality" and that the "government has yet to locate a penny" of Guzman's purported $12.6 billion in drug proceeds prosecutors want forfeited.

Guzman was convicted in February of murder conspiracy and drug trafficking.

He's scheduled to be sentenced July 17.