US Citizen Drug Cartel Assassin, 15, Is Convicted in Mexico, Gets 3 Years
A 15-year-old United States citizen who admittedly killed four people by slitting their throats has been convicted in a Mexican court of torturing and beheading four people and kidnapping another three individuals.
Convicted of aggravated homicide today in the slayings, Edgar Jimenez Lugo, who is also known as “El Ponchis,” Spanish for “the Cloak,” was sentenced to the maximum term he could get, as a juvenile—three years in a correctional facilty, according to CNN and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
His juvenile court trial was closed to the public, but information was provided to the media afterward by lawyers and others. CNN says he is 14 but the newspaper says he is 15. He allegedly worked as an operative for the South Pacific Cartel.
The case has brought renewed attention to the problem of extreme gang violence in the ongoing Mexican drug wars that has threatened the rule of law there and spilled over into the United States.
Another Union-Tribune article describes at length the family and social forces that helped push the teen, who was born in San Diego and taken away from his parents at birth, into a life of crime and violence.
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “US Citizen, 14, Charged in Mexico as Alleged Drug Cartel Assassin, Could Get 3 Years in Prison”
ABAJournal.com:”Given Choice of ‘Silver or Lead,’ Lawyer Serving as Mayor of Mexican City, Like Many Others, Is Dead”
ABAJournal.com: “Mexico Said to Hire NY Law Firm to Explore Civil Suits Against US Gun Makers”
