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Close ally of Mexican drug cartel sentenced to 20 years in prison

Xinhua, January 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ignacio Paez Soto, a close ally of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman within the Sinaloa Cartel, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to judicial authorities Wednesday.

The sentence was handed down by the Third District Court of the State of Sonora, which was announced in a statement that Paez Soto "had recognized his responsibility in acts of organized crime."

The country's Justice Ministry also issued a statement claiming that evidence had proven Paez Soto's "involvement since 2002 in the criminal organization led by Joaquin Guzman Loera, alias "El Chapo."

It detailed that the accused had colluded with other people to commit crimes in the towns of Caborca, Pitiquito, Altar and Sasabe in the northern state of Sonora, mainly concerning the transportation of drugs to the United States.

Paez Soto was arrested in November 2013, five months after he was listed by the U.S. Department of Justice as a known operative of the Sinaloa Cartel and as Guzman's main operator in Sonora.

Currently, he is to be sent to complete his sentence at the No. 12 Federal Center of Social Readaptation, in the town of Ocampo in the central state of Guanajuato. Endi