Guatemalan gets 6,060 years prison for 1982 massacre

A Guatemalan court here sentenced a former elite special forces member to 6,060 years in prison for his role in the slaughter of 201 farmers in 1982, one of the worst atrocities in Guatemala's civil war. Guatemala's First Court B of High Risk late Monday sentenced ex-military instructor Pedro Pimentel to 30 years prison for each person killed during the raid on the Dos Erres village between December 6 and December 8, 1982. He was given an additional 30 years prison for committing crimes against humanity. Pimentel, 54, was extradited in July from the United States, where he had been working in a sweater factory in Santa Ana, California. The extraordinarily long sentence is largely symbolic because the maximum time in prison allowed under Guatemalan law is 50 years. Pimentel is the fifth former soldier to be convicted in the massacre. The other four were sentenced in August to more than 6,000 years in prison each. Pimentel is a former instructor for the elite "Kaibiles" military unit, which was sent to Dos Erres searching for 40 rifles stolen by guerrillas. The massacre occurred during the 1982-1983 dictatorship of General Efrain Rios Montt. In his final statement to the judges, Pimentel denied his role in the killing. The evidence against Pimentel however included testimony from two fellow soldiers who participated in the raid. Twelve other members of the army patrol linked to the massacre are hiding. Guatemala's bitter 1960-1996 civil war claimed about 200,000 lives, according to United Nations figures.