STORY: A court in Ecuador on Friday handed down prison sentences for five people found guilty of murdering presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
The journalist and former legislator was shot while leaving a rally in August 2023.
Prosecutors accused at least two of those tried of belonging to the Los Lobos crime gang, among 22 criminal gangs designated as terrorists by President Daniel Noboa in January.
Carlos Edwin Angulo Lara and Laura Dayanara Castillo were both sentenced to 34 years and eight months.
According to the attorney general's office, Angulo gave the order to murder Villavicencio from prison, while Castillo was in charge of logistics.
Erick Ramirez, Victor Flores and Alexandra Chimbo were sentenced to 12 years.
Hugo Espin is the lawyer for Villavicencio's widow.
"This is an important first step. I think the country needs transparency. The country needs to get to the intellectual authors of the crime so that there isn't impunity. The only way to get security in the country is by erasing the impunity of any people committing a crime."
Villavicencio, whose journalism exposed corruption and connections between organized crime and politicians, had long faced threats.
Prosecutors are undertaking a separate investigation into who requested the murder.
His sister, Alexandra Villavicencio, hoped justice would continue to be served.
"As each of the actual assassins of Fernando Villavicencio is being judged, so should all the masterminds and all who are hidden," she says.
The sentencing can be appealed by both the prosecution and the defense.
