Life Sentence For Juárez Men Accused In Murders Of 11 Young Women
A high-profile trial centered on the death and disappearance of young women in the Mexican border city of Juárez ended Monday in a life sentence for five men.
A three-judge panel ordered 697 years in prison for each of the five men they found guilty of sex trafficking and murder. The victims were 11 young women who went missing during the height of a vicious drug war that began in 2008. The men were accused of participating in a sex-trafficking ring that snatched vulnerable women from the city center.
Elvira González is the mother of Perla Ivonne Aguirre González, one of 11 women.
"I can't say I'm satisfied," she said Monday after the sentencing, "because I'll never get my daughter back. But she'd be glad we fought for justice."
The case was tried under Mexico's new judicial system, which puts the burden of proof on the prosecution. Most of the evidence they presented was based on witness testimony.
Maribel Romero Esparza, sister of one of the accused men, said her brother, Cesar Felix Romero Esparza, is innocent.
"To take a person randomly off the street and exhibit him in court as the worst criminal in the world is unjust," she said. "The authorities must do their jobs and go after the true criminals who are still out there killing women."
Attorneys for the accused men say they will appeal the case.
