Beltrán Leyva Gunmen Get Up to 289 Years Each for 2011 Murder of Poet’s Son and Six Friends
A Mexican federal court sentenced four members of the Cártel del Pacífico Sur, the armed wing of the Beltrán Leyva Organization, to between 280 and 289 years in prison each for the 2011 kidnapping and murder of Juan Francisco Sicilia — son of poet and activist Javier Sicilia — and six of his friends, Infobae Mexico reported on September 21, 2026.
The sentences
According to Infobae, the four men, identified only by first name and last-name initial under Mexican reporting protections, received: Alberto “N”, 289 years plus a 2,401,245-peso fine; Hugo “N”, 289 years plus a 4,235,000-peso fine; Daniel “N”, alias “El Dany”, 284 years plus a 2,395,575-peso fine; and Alejandro “N”, 280 years plus a 25,200,000-peso fine.
The 2011 crime
Per Infobae’s account, Juan Francisco Sicilia and six friends were abducted outside a bar in Jiutepec, Morelos, on March 28, 2011. The victims were taken to a safe house, bound and asphyxiated; their bodies were later found dumped in nearby Temixco. Prosecutors tied the killings to the Cártel del Pacífico Sur, then the Beltrán Leyva Organization’s operational arm in Morelos.
A long-running prosecution
Monday’s sentencing is the latest in a string of convictions in the case, Infobae reported. Jesús Cárdenas Pérez (“El Manos”/“El Chuy”) was sentenced to 297 years in November 2024; Julio de Jesús Radilla Hernández (“El Padrino”) and Ángel Taboada Villanueva (“El Conejo”) each received roughly 290-plus-year sentences in December 2024; and José Luis Luquín Delgado (“El Jabón”) was sentenced to 293 years in August 2025.
The case that changed a poet
The killings led Javier Sicilia to abandon poetry and found the Movimiento por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad. He led a march from Cuernavaca that arrived in Mexico City’s Zócalo on May 8, 2011, demanding an end to Mexico’s militarized anti-drug strategy — a movement that shaped national debate over the drug war for years afterward.
Sources
Infobae Mexico, “Dan casi 300 años de prisión a cuatro integrantes del Cártel del Pacífico Sur por el asesinato del hijo del poeta Javier Sicilia,” published September 21, 2026.
This report is based on Infobae Mexico’s September 21, 2026 account. Reporting date: September 21, 2026. The defendants’ full surnames and the sentencing court were not disclosed in the source material and could not be independently verified.