Prison terms of up to 828 years for Guatemala drug gang members who massacred foreigners
GUATEMALA CITY – A Guatemala judge handed down prison terms of up to 828 years for six drug traffickers convicted of killing a busload of foreigners in 2008 before setting the bodies on fire.
The traffickers stopped the bus, which entered Guatemala from Nicaragua to the south, because they thought it was carrying drugs.
They searched it and found none, then shot and killed all 16 people aboard — 15 Nicaraguans and one Dutch citizen — then burned the victims’ bodies on an estate owned by one of those convicted.
That man, Marvin Montiel Marín, alias “El Taquero,” was jailed for 820 years in Friday’s trial: eight years for criminal association, 12 for drug trafficking and 50 years for each of the killings.
URGENTE: Marvin Montiel Marin, alias "El Taquero" es sentenciado a 820 años de prisión, por la muerte de 16 turistas pic.twitter.com/IcF4cAYM4P
— Radio SONORA 96.9 FM (@sonora969) January 8, 2016
Three other suspects got as many as 828 years as other crimes were included in the charge sheet against them, according to the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, a U.N. body.
The length of the terms is largely symbolic, however, as under Guatemalan law the most time a person can spend in prison is 50 years.
During the trial Marín’s wife, Sara Cruz, drew a sentence of six years in prison for criminal association.
You may be interested

Costa Rica, IMF reach agreement in principle for $1.75 billion loan
Alejandro Zúñiga - January 22, 2021Costa Rica has reached an agreement in principle with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.75 billion loan. Before…

10 tax tips for U.S. citizens living in Costa Rica in 2021
Bright!Tax - January 22, 2021Allyson Lindsey, Managing CPA and Partner at Bright!Tax, a leading provider of US expat tax services, provides us with some…

Nicaraguans in Costa Rica ask UNHCR for support
AFP - January 22, 2021Nicaraguans who fled the government of Daniel Ortega to request asylum in Costa Rica are requesting support from the UN…