One Dutch citizen and fifteen Nicaraguans were massacred in 2008; a court in Guatemala sentenced an alleged drug kingpin to 808 years in jail on Monday, according to a legal source. In light of Rigoberto Danilo Morales’ involvement in the killings, the court sentenced him.
Another suspected drug kingpin, Marvin Montiel Marin, was also given a lengthy prison sentence in 2016 in connection with the massacre. In addition to eight more years for criminal association, the court sentenced Morales to fifty years for each murder.
Morales was given 50 years in prison for each murder as well as an extra eight years for criminal association by the court. On the other hand, a prisoner can only spend a maximum of 50 years behind bars in Guatemala. Morales, 37, was captured in 2022 after eluding the law for 13 years, and although he received a hefty prison sentence, his trial started in September.
Prosecutors claim that people suspected of drug trafficking stopped a bus that was traveling from Nicaragua into Guatemala during the 2008 tragedy. When they realized the bus was not carrying narcotics, they mistakenly thought it was carrying drugs and shot and burnt the victims at a Montiel estate.
Eight other people have been found guilty in connection with the case, including Montiel and his wife Sara Cruz, and have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
