SAN DIEGO (CNS) – A man who took part in the kidnapping and killing of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen in Tijuana was convicted Wednesday by a San Diego federal jury.
Prosecutors said the victim was abducted from a Tijuana hotel, then beaten and tortured while his captors demanded a ransom of money or drugs from his family. A prosecution trial brief states the victim had initially agreed to transport just over two pounds of methamphetamine across the border for one of the defendants, but stole the package, leading to the retaliatory kidnapping in May of 2020.
One day after he was kidnapped, the victim was shot five times by Brian Alexis Patron Lopez, 23, of Tijuana, according to prosecutors…