El Salvador sentences 7 gang members for killing of 11

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – A court in El Salvador has sentenced seven gang members to 390 years each for the March 2016 killings of 11 people.

Wednesday’s sentences of 35 years per victim are largely symbolic since El Salvador’s maximum sentence is 35 years.

The killings of eight electrical company workers and three farmers shocked the nation, and weeks later spurred the government’s crackdown on street gangs.

The killers belong to the Barrio 18 gang and were looking to kill members of the rival Mara Salvatrucha gang. But they came across three farm workers and eight electrical workers, who were apparently slain in a case of mistaken identity or to eliminate any witnesses.

In October, two under-aged gang members were sentenced to five and 15 years in a youth correctional facility for the killings.