“El Patrón” Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Attack on Ciro Gómez Leyva

On December 16, 2025, a control judge at the Federal Criminal Justice Center in Reclusorio Norte sentenced Armando Escárcega Valdez, alias “El Patrón,” to 14 years in prison for attempted murder against journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva. The ruling was issued during a shortened trial procedure hearing, where the defendant accepted full responsibility for the events.

Federal Judge Edmundo Manuel Perusquia Cabañas determined the sentence after validating the evidence presented by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), which identified Escárcega Valdez as the mastermind and logistical coordinator of the armed attack. In addition to the prison sentence, the convicted man must pay compensation for damages to the victim.

During his appearance before the judicial authority, Escárcega Valdez stated that the order to attack the journalist came directly from leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The convicted man declared that he followed the instructions out of fear that the criminal organization would attack him or his family if he refused. “I received orders,” he stated in the courtroom to justify his participation in the logistics of the crime.

The attack occurred on the night of December 15, 2022, in the Florida neighborhood, Álvaro Obregón borough, Mexico City, when a group of armed men fired at the armored vehicle in which Gómez Leyva was traveling. After the attack, Escárcega Valdez fled to the United States, where he was arrested on October 16, 2023, in Delano, California, and subsequently extradited to Mexico to face criminal proceedings.

According to judicial reports, Ciro Gómez Leyva was present at the hearing and accepted the early conclusion of the process through the shortened trial procedure. With this sentence, Escárcega Valdez becomes one of the main defendants with a final conviction regarding the attack, while the FGR continues its investigations to determine the responsibility of other possible intellectual authors of higher rank.

Sources: Coltybrah, Zeta Tijuana