Guatemala | A Guatemalan court on Monday sentenced a man accused of being a drug lord to 808 years in prison for the 2008 massacre of 15 Nicaraguans and a Dutchman, a judicial source said.
The court in the capital of Guatemala imposed this sentence on Rigoberto Danilo Morales after finding him guilty of involvement in the murders.
In 2016, another alleged drug trafficking ring leader, Marvin Montiel Marin, was also sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence for the massacre.
The court said Morales was sentenced to 50 years in prison for each murder and an additional eight years for criminal conspiracy.
However, according to Guatemalan law, a prisoner cannot serve more than 50 years in prison.
Dabilo Morales, 37, was arrested in 2022 after 13 years on the run.
His trial began in September. According to prosecutors, during the 2008 massacre, a bus coming from Nicaragua to Guatemala carrying the victims was intercepted by suspected drug traffickers.
They thought he was also carrying drugs, but when they realized he wasn't, they shot the travelers and burned the bodies at a Marvin Montiel property, prosecutors said.
Eight other people, including Mr. Montiel and his wife Sara Cruz, were convicted in the case and given prison sentences of varying lengths.