Mexico court jails man over murder of journalist
One of the murderers of acclaimed journalist and AFP contributor Javier Valdez Cardenas was sentenced Thursday to 14 years and eight months in prison by a Mexican court.
Heriberto Picos Barraza, nicknamed "El Koala", was one of the perpetrators of the crime committed in the northwestern city of Cualiacan in May 2017, according to the prosecution.
He had served as a driver for two men, Juan Francisco Picos Barrueto and Luis Idelfonso Sanchez, who shot Valdez outside his office.
A co-founder of the weekly newspaper Riodoce, Valdez, 50, was one of the most prominent chroniclers of Mexico's deadly drug war in a state where notorious kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman once reigned.
The public prosecutor's office ordered the accused to pay 9 million pesos (around 420,000 euros, $460,000) to the journalist's family.
The sum will be covered by the Executive Commission for Victim Assistance (CEAV), a branch of the interior ministry.
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