MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman wants to be rapidly extradited to the United States out of “desperation” over being sleep-deprived in prison, his attorney said Wednesday.

The lawyer, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, said the defense team would seek to negotiate with US authorities and that it would take at least two months for Guzman to be shipped to Mexico’s northern neighbor.

The Sinaloa drug cartel leader made his plea “in a moment of desperation” over his treatment, Rodriguez told AFP, citing concerns for his client’s health.

“He can no longer take this situation,” said the lawyer.

Rodriguez, who filed injunctions against his client’s extradition following his January 8 recapture, said lawyers would continue his defense in Mexican court while they seek to negotiate with US authorities.

Prison authorities acknowledged that Guzman, 58, is awakened every four hours to make sure he is still alive as part of regular security protocols for high-profile inmates.

“We are not violating the rights and guarantees of any intern subjected to this type of security protocol,” Eduardo Guerrero, the head of Mexico’s penitentiary system, told local radio on Tuesday.

Two US courts have formally requested Guzman’s extradition since he was recaptured, with charges of drug trafficking in California and murder in Texas.

Rodriguez told Radio Formula that he saw Guzman on Tuesday and that the drug cartel leader told him: “Try to get me extradited as fast as possible.”

“Not allowing someone to sleep is an act of torture,” Rodriguez told the radio station. “I saw a desperate man, a dejected man. I found him very discouraged and in a very serious state of health.”

“He is isolated and segregated in a special area, separated from the other inmates. He told me that he was taken to a small room… (and) doesn’t see the sun,” the lawyer said.

Rodriguez said last week that Guzman would be willing to plead guilty in the United States in return for a “relatively reasonable” sentence at a “medium-security” prison.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said recently she was confident that Mexican courts would soon decide on the extradition. The US embassy declined to comment on Wednesday.