NEW YORK - U.S. prosecutors and lawyers for infamous drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman are sparring over his tough jail conditions.

The defense has asked a judge to order Guzman released from solitary confinement at a high-security Manhattan jail where he's been held since being brought to the United States in January. His lawyers claim the isolation is violating his constitutional rights and causing his health to decline.

The government responded in court papers Tuesday by saying the restrictions are appropriate for someone known for escaping twice from prison in Mexico. One time it was through a mile-long tunnel dug to the shower in his cell.

The 59-year-old Guzman has pleaded not guilty to charges that as head of the Sinaloa cartel he oversaw a multi-billion dollar drug trafficking operation responsible for murders and kidnappings.