An accused drug lord linked to the 1993 assassination of a cardinal has been sentenced to six years in prison for weapons violations, but a judge exonerated him of more serious drug charges.
In a trial in the western city of Guadalajara on Tuesday, Hector Luis Palma Salazar, known as "El Guero" for his fair hair, was convicted of possessing weapons reserved for use by the military.He was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $670, the official Notimex news agency reported.
But the court exonerated Palma, believed to head the Sinaloa drug cartel, of the more serious charge of cocaine possession, which carried up to 33 years in prison, the Guadalajara newspaper Siglo XXI reported Wednesday.
Seven accomplices also were sentenced on weapons charges and acquitted on drug charges, Siglo XXI reported.
The federal attorney general's office said it would appeal the decision.
The case highlighted the collaboration between Mexican police and the cartels that ship tons of cocaine and other drugs through Mexico into the United States.
Palma was arrested June 23, 1995, at the home of Jalisco state's former deputy federal police commander. He was protected by seven federal police agents and allegedly had pistols and almost two pounds of cocaine.
The former police commander, Apolinar Pintor Aguilera, was charged with aiding and abetting a criminal, but the judge absolved him as well Tuesday.
In addition to this case, Palma still faces numerous drug trafficking and murder charges, and a Mexico City judge is considering conspiracy charges against Palma and his associates.
Palma also was charged with the May 1993 slaying of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo at the Guadalajara airport. But a district judge in December 1995 blocked further investigation into the case.
The federal attorney general's office closed the Posadas case last year after concluding that the elderly bishop was shot by mistake, confused for a drug lord from a rival gang.