A Mexican lawyer who said he was pressured to represent the then-boss of the Gulf cartel testified Friday that he was kidnapped and tortured after the gangster lost a bid to block his extradition to the United States.

Ernesto Gutierrez Martinez, who is seeking asylum in the United States, spent most of the day in a Texas courtroom recounting the three weeks he spent in the clutches of the cartel after the extradition of Osiel Cardenas-Guillen to Houston in 2007.

Gutierrez, who shared his story with the San Antonio Express-News last year, allowed a reporter to observe his closed asylum hearing. Few Mexicans have been granted asylum, and the U.S. government opposes many asylum requests because, experts say, the law doesn't squarely apply to victims of Mexican organized crime.

Gutierrez, 45, told Immigration Judge David Ayala that Cardenas' family pressured him to join Cardenas' defense team. He refused to represent Cardenas, but Cardenas' family insisted. At one point, Gutierrez testified, Cardenas' brother, Ezequiel Cardenas-Guillen, showed up at Gutierrez's home in Matamoros, Mexico, not his law office, scaring Gutierrez into accepting the task.

But when Cardenas became upset that his legal case didn't go well, Gutierrez said he was threatened by members of Los Zetas, the cartel's paramilitary enforcement wing, and a Tamaulipas, Mexico, state police officer Gutierrez recognized from court.

Six months later, 18 armed members of Los Zetas beat him, dragged him down the steps of his law office, bound and blindfolded him and took him to a house in an unknown location.

For three weeks, Gutierrez testified, he was confined to a tiny concrete room and beaten to a pulp by Zetas and corrupt Mexican cops. The cartel blamed him for the failed bid to block Cardenas' extradition, though Gutierrez testified that he was not the lead defense lawyer, only an advisor.

He recognized two of his captors as being municipal police officers. Another was the commander of the state police of Tamaulipas, he said.

Emaciated and with infected wounds — Gutierrez showed Ayala scars on his neck and wrists — Gutierrez was freed but told he'd have to represent more cartel clients.

Instead, Gutierrez ran for the border to seek asylum. His wife and children joined him days later.

He faced tough questions from Ayala, who seemed incredulous that Gutierrez was paid only $30,000 for the nearly four years he worked on Cardenas' case. Asked by Ayala why he didn't turn in his captors to Mexican authorities, Gutierrez said, “because the police are involved, we are left indefensible. ... There is no one out there that will go after them.”

Why not move to another Mexican state? Ayala asked.

“The cartel has the financial means and the contacts in various cities to find me,” Gutierrez testified.

Like many applicants for asylum, Gutierrez must convince a judge that he has suffered persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution for one of five reasons: race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. They have to show their home government either can't protect them or is part of the problem.

The judge, who'll resume the hearing later, said it was evident that Gutierrez was tortured physically and mentally. That gave Gutierrez a glimmer of hope.