A member of a Mexican drug gang active in Southern California has been convicted of murder and kidnapping for ransom, but the jury deadlocked on several other counts.
Edgar Lopez went to trial on six felony charges, including several killings that occurred in 2004 and 2005.
U-T San Diego reported Wednesday that Judge David Rubin declared a mistrial on four counts, all of which were murder charges. Hearings in January will determine how the case will proceed.
According to the U-T:
The jury in Lopez’s case ... found him guilty of murder and kidnapping for ransom in the August 2005 death of Ricardo Escobar Luna, whose body was found on a roadside in Bonita.
The 31-year-old was kidnapped from his home days earlier, and the kidnappers demanded $800,000 from his family in exchange for letting him go.
The 40-year-old is one of 18 people — both U.S. and Mexican citizens — indicted since 2009 in connection with the gang.
He is the sixth Los Palillos defendant to be convicted at trial since 2012.
