El Salvador sentences 2 teenage gang members for killings

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – A court in El Salvador has sentenced two gang members to five and 15 years in a youth correctional facility for the March killings of 11 people.

Fifteen years is the maximum sentence allowed for people convicted of crimes committed when they were between 16 and 18 years old.

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 court ruled that one gang member nicknamed “Danger” shot the victims to death, and sentenced him to 15 years. Another gang member nicknamed “Restless” was sentenced to five years for helping him.

The government says the crackdown on street gangs has helped reduce the country’s homicide rate, which reached 103 homicides for every 100,000 residents last year.