A person convicted within the kidnapping and killing of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen in Tijuana was sentenced in San Diego federal courtroom Wednesday to life in jail.
Brian Alexis Patron Lopez, 24, was discovered responsible by a San Diego federal jury for the kidnapping and capturing loss of life of Miguel Anthony Rendon, a San Diego resident who was kidnapped from a Tijuana lodge, then overwhelmed and tortured whereas his captors demanded a ransom of cash or medication from his household.
Prosecutors say Rendon had initially agreed to move simply over two kilos of methamphetamine throughout the border, however stole the bundle, resulting in the retaliatory kidnapping in May 2020 by Patron Lopez and others.
Following the kidnapping and torture, prosecutors say Patron Lopez took Rendon to a abandoned hillside and shot him a number of instances. Mexican authorities found his physique on the hillside a couple of week later.
Four others have been charged within the case for numerous roles within the abduction, pleaded responsible, and have been sentenced to jail phrases starting from 5 years to almost a dozen years behind bars.
Patron Lopez was sentenced to 2 phrases of life imprisonment for counts of hostage taking leading to loss of life and conspiracy to commit hostage taking leading to loss of life. Those counts carry necessary minimal sentences of life in jail.
He additionally acquired a 35-year sentence for a depend of intentional killing whereas engaged in drug trafficking.
All three jail phrases can be served concurrently.
Defense legal professional Meghan Blanco argued Wednesday that regardless of the necessary life phrases, such a sentence represented a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s provisions towards merciless and strange punishment.
Blanco stated her consumer was 18 years outdated on the time of the killing with no prior prison historical past, but was dealing with a disproportionately increased sentence than his co-defendants. The legal professional stated that whereas prosecutors alleged Patron Lopez was the shooter, the jury’s verdict contained no particular findings indicating their perception that he was the shooter.
U.S. District Judge William Hayes stated that per his information of the case because the choose who sat via the trial, he believed Patron Lopez was concerned within the sufferer’s kidnapping and torture, and was additionally “the executioner.”
The choose additionally stated per his overview of different circumstances involving necessary life sentences, it could not be unconstitutional to impose life sentences towards Patron Lopez.
Wednesday’s sentencing listening to additionally included a press release from Emma Medrano, the sufferer’s mom.
“I want him to understand we are living a life sentence too, a life without Anthony’s voice, his smile, his future,” she stated. “I want this man to carry the weight of what he did for the rest of his life.”