LYNCHBURG, Va. – An MS-13 gang member will spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2017 murder of a Lynchburg teenager.
Lisandro Posada-Vazquez appeared in Bedford Circuit Court Tuesday and was sentenced to life in prison for aggravated murder and abduction for financial benefit.
Posada-Vasquez was originally charged with capital murder, but the charge was amended to aggravated murder due to a change in the law over the years.
He also received 10 more years in prison for gang affiliation and participation.
Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Wes Nance said the sentence reflects Posada-Vasquez coming forward early on and accepting responsibility.
“In speaking to Raymond Wood’s mother, we reached this number together and deemed it appropriate as some form of consideration for that taking of responsibility,” said Nance.
The ruling allows the prison sentence to be suspended after 75 years if current laws change during that time.
“This was a horrific crime and it required, even with the acceptance of responsibility, a very lengthy prison sentence,” said Nance.
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Vasquez was charged in connection to the 2017 murder of Raymond Wood. Wood was 17 at the time of his death.
Five people were charged in the teenager’s death, including Josue Coreas-Ventura.
During the trial against Ventura last month, Bedford Commonwealth’s Attorney Wes Nance said the group tricked Wood into selling them marijuana, then drove the 17-year-old from Lynchburg to Bedford County where they strangled him, knocked him unconscious, took turns using a knife, and chopped off his right hand among a dozen other wounds.