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Thread: Ricardo Sanchez, Jr. - Federal Death Row

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    Ricardo Sanchez, Jr. - Federal Death Row


    Escobedo family


    Ricardo Sanchez, Jr.


    Summary of Offense:

    On March 31, 2009, a jury in West Palm Beach, Florida, recommended a death sentence for Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez, Jr. for the murder of two children on the Florida Turnpike in 2006. The defendants also were convicted of murdering the children's parents and received life sentences for that crime. All the victims were Hispanic. The father of the children was allegedly killed because of a drug debt. The reputed kingpin of the drug operation did not receive a death sentence. On May 13, 2009 both Troya and Sanchez were formally sentenced to death.

    Victims: Jose Luis Escobedo, 28; his wife, Yessica Guerrero Escobedo, 25; and their sons, Luis Julian, 4, and Luis Damian, 3.

    For more on Troya, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...eral-Death-Row

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    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    March 31, 2009

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two men were sentenced to death Wednesday for the drug-debt slaying of a family of four on the side of a Florida highway, including two young boys who died in their mother's arms.

    Daniel Troya, 26, and co-defendant Ricardo Sanchez Jr., 25, both received two death sentences, for the two child victims, and five life terms each at separate hearings. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley called Troya "enormously dangerous" and gave each man additional years in prison on lesser counts.

    The sentencings marked the first imposition of a federal death penalty in Florida since the federal government reinstated capital punishment in 1988.

    "I must confess I have no confidence that Mr. Troya would not do this again if the opportunity presented itself," the judge said before reading Troya's sentence.

    Troya, who like Sanchez was shackled at the waist and guarded by four bailiffs, offered an apology during his court session.

    "First and foremost, to the victims and family members, I would like to apologize," he said. "Basically, I'm sorry to my family, the people that put faith in me to be good."

    He also apologized for throwing a plastic water bottle at prosecutors in March after a jury recommended the death penalty for both men. As he was led from the courtroom, Troya nodded to his mother, father and sister, who were silently crying.

    The judge said Troya grew up in a "wonderful family" and added, "I have no idea how Mr. Troya got to be the person he is today, but he is an enormously dangerous person who has no regard for the taking of a human life."

    Troya and Sanchez were convicted March 5 of killing Jose Luis Escobedo, 28; his wife, Yessica Guerrero Escobedo, 25; and their sons, Luis Julian, 4, and Luis Damian, 3. Their bodies were found in the grass alongside Florida's Turnpike on Oct. 13, 2006, shot at close range.

    The victims had moved to Palm Beach County from the Brownsville, Texas, area a few months before they were killed.

    Prosecutors say Jose Escobedo was involved in a drug ring with the defendants. They said Troya and Sanchez killed him and his family to settle a debt, then stole 15 kilograms of cocaine from Escobedo.

    Yessica Escobedo suffered 11 gunshot wounds while cradling her two young sons in her arms in an apparent attempt to shield them. The boys were shot a total of 10 times. Jose Escobedo was shot five times.

    Prosecutors said bullet casings at the scene were linked to ammunition at the defendants' home. They also said Troya and Sanchez's fingerprints were found on turnpike tickets from the night of the killings.

    On Wednesday, Sanchez told the court he was innocent.

    "I want to tell Luis (sic) and Yessica's families sorry for the tragedy or whatever," Sanchez said. "But I am going to hold on to my innocence because I am innocent and they will see that when it comes back on appeal."

    Defense attorneys had claimed the case was flimsy, questioned the reliability of government witnesses who stood to gain favor in their own criminal proceedings, and pointed to the lack of witnesses to the actual crime. They claimed the killings were the work of a Mexican drug gang.

    Two others — Danny Varela, 28, and Liana Lopez, 20 — also were convicted in March in the same case on drug conspiracy and weapons charges. They face life sentences at hearings scheduled Friday. Authorities said Escobedo was the drug supplier for the gang led by Varela.

    Source

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Related

    Appeals panel affirms convictions related to St. Lucie County turnpike murders

    A panel of three federal appellate judges have affirmed the convictions of two members of a drug ring connected to the 2006 slayings of a family of four along Florida's Turnpike in St. Lucie County.

    Danny Varela and Liana Lee Lopez had argued they should not have been put on trial with Ricardo Sanchez and Daniel Troya, who were convicted in 2009 of murdering drug supplier Jose Luis Escobedo along with his wife, Yessica, and their two sons, 4-year-old Luis Julian and 3-year-old Luis Damian, before dawn Oct. 13, 2006.

    Sanchez and Troya are both on federal death row for the murders of the boys, and they received life sentences for the deaths of the parents.

    At the same trial, Varela was convicted on drug conspiracy and gun charges, for which he later was sentenced to life in prison; and Lopez was sentenced to 15 years in prison for similar convictions.

    In their appeal, attorneys for Varela and Lopez argued to three judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that being tried on drug charges along with two men charged with murders prejudiced the jury against Varela and Lopez.

    In a 58-page ruling filed Tuesday, the judges noted that Varela was the mastermind of an illegal drug operation that involved Troya, Sanchez and Lopez. Prosecutors contended that Troya and Sanchez killed the Escobedo family, which had recently moved from Brownsville, Texas to the West Palm Beach area, on orders from Varela to pay a drug debt.

    "In this circuit," the appeals panel stated, "the rule about joint trials is that 'defendants who are indicted together are usually tried together.' ... That rule is even more pronounced in conspiracy cases where the refrain is that 'defendants charged with a common conspiracy should be tried together.'"

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/aug/...related-to-st/

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    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA versus DANIEL TROYA, RICARDO SANCHEZ, JR.

    Court: Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

    Opinion Date: October 2, 2013

    Defendants were convicted of murdering a family and sentenced to death. Defendants raised numerous issues on appeal. The court concluded that the majority of defendants' arguments had no merit; the district court did not abuse its discretion in its admission of the uncharged firearms and drug trafficking offenses; the district court's exclusion of expert testimony from a forensic psychologist was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence against Defendant Troya; and the district court properly admitted testimony of the government's psychologist to rebut Defendant Sanchez's expert testimony at sentencing. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
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    Article

    U.S. appeals court upholds death row convictions for 2006 killing of Escobedo family on Florida's Turnpike

    Condemned killers Daniel “Homer” Troya and Ricardo “Ricky” Sanchez Jr. will remain on federal death row for the 2006 brutal slaying of the Escobedo family along Florida’s Turnpike in Port St. Lucie after a federal appeals court upheld their convictions.

    Police tied the killings to a violent drug-peddling gang in West Palm Beach headed by Daniel “Danny” Varela, who is serving life in prison.

    In a 29-page ruling released Wednesday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta rejected several issues raised by Troya and Sanchez, most centering on decisions made by the district judge presiding over their 2009 trial. A jury convicted the men of 16 charges, including armed carjacking resulting in death, along with drug trafficking and weapons offenses.

    St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara praised the ruling, and noted that “not one motion was brought up about our investigation.

    “It says a lot about the manpower our men and women brought to the case to find the evidence, bring it forth and present it to the U.S. Attorney in such a way so he could present it to the court in an ironclad fashion,” Mascara said. “It was one of the most horrific murder scenes I’ve seen.”

    Troya and Sanchez were sentenced to death for the murder of 3-year-old Luis Damian Escobedo and 4-year-old Luis Julian Escobedo. They received life prison terms for the murder of the boy’s parents, Jose Luis Escobedo, 28, and his wife Yessica Escobedo, 25.

    The three-judge appellate panel noted the gangland-style murders “took place to protect a large-scale drug trafficking ring involving drugs, guns and extensive violence.”

    “In this gruesome quadruple homicide,” the panel stated, “(Troya and Sanchez) stalked the Escobedo family on a Florida highway for nearly nine hours, personally spoke to them, and then ruthlessly murdered them one-by-one, execution style.”

    In their appeal, Troya and Sanchez claimed the district judge erred by allowing prosecutors to present evidence about uncharged acts of misconduct involving drug trafficking and firearms. They claimed the district court wrongly excluded expert testimony concerning Troya’s lack of future dangerousness, and Sanchez’s mental state.

    The 11th Circuit rejected all of the arguments, concluding that any errors made were “harmless” and that “the district court did not abuse its discretion ...”

    The convictions and sentences against Varela and his former girlfriend, Liana Lopez, who is serving 15 years, already have been upheld.

    http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/oct/...w-convictions/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Sanchez's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
    Case Nos.: (09-12716-P)
    Decision Date: October 2, 2013
    Rehearing Denied: December 24, 2013

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/search.a...s/13-10282.htm

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    On May 3, 2016, Sanchez filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/fl...cv80693/483531

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