Mexican Killer, 17, Goes Free, Moves to Texas

US citizen Edgar Jimenez Lugo has finished 3-year sentence
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 27, 2013 7:17 AM CST
Mexican Killer, 17, Heads to Freedom in Texas
In this Dec. 3, 2010 file photo, Mexican soldiers present Edgar "El Ponchis" Jimenez Lugo to the media in the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico.   (AP Photo/Antonio Sierra, File)

After serving three years in a Mexican detention center, a 17-year-old who says he killed four people has been released—and his next stop is San Antonio, Texas. There, the US-born Edgar Jimenez Lugo, also known as "El Ponchis," will be sent to a "support center," but he won't be held under lock and key, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Apparently he's paid his debt for whatever crimes he was convicted of (in Mexico), and I'm not aware of any charges the US, federal or state, has against him," says a San Antonio-based FBI agent.

Jimenez, who reportedly has family in the Texas city, was arrested at age 14 in 2010. Three years was the maximum sentence he could face as a minor in Morelos state, though that has since been increased to five years, the Times notes. He says he was forced to commit the crimes by a cartel boss who said he'd kill Jimenez otherwise, and did so while stoned. The governor of Morelos says the teen made "notable" strides in detention and that his life would be at risk if he stayed in Mexico. A US embassy spokesman says officials in Mexico and the US are "closely coordinating" on matters "regarding Edgar Lugo's release." (More Mexico stories.)

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