A murder defendant the Tribune featured two weeks ago in a story titled “Death of a mom turned drug runner” will be sentenced this afternoon in federal court. Jose Rios Rico (pictured) pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this month to a slew of charges, including the murder of Angela Pinkerton, a mother of three who delivered methamphetamine to him at a Chandler apartment.
The case is arguably one of the reasons Arizona’s then-top federal prosecutor, Paul Charlton, was later fired by the Bush administration. Charlton believed that there was not enough evidence against Rios Rico to seek the death penalty. For one, Pinkerton’s body had never been unearthed from the Arizona landfill she was thought to be buried beneath. However, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales forced Charlton’s hand on the matter and ordered him to seek the ultimate punishment against Rios Rico.
For today’s sentencing, though, none of that matters. As part of his deal with federal prosecutors, Rios Rico pleaded guilty to spare his life. Though he is expected to spend decades — if not the rest of his life — in prison, he escapes death row.
premeditated murder and this ahole gets life ? what a joke
In my opinion, he doesn’t deserve death. That’s too easy. Let him spend his life with a bunch of people just like him. Let him suffer just as long as my family and I will for losing someone so dear to our hearts. Then let him die alone. I miss and love you everyday, big sister.
maybe he is guilty but anyway she was involve in drug business