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Santa Barbara County Gang Member Gets Life Without Parole Sentence For Role In Three Killings

A Santa Barbara County man who was a member of a notorious gang will spend the rest of his life behind bars for his role in three Ohio murders.

Jose Bonilla-Mejia pled guilty to two murder counts, as well as racketeering, for crimes in Columbus, Ohio. He was sentenced this week to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Federal prosecutors say the 31-year-old Santa Maria man was a member of the MS-13 gang, known for brutally killing people with machetes, knives, and hammers.

Two of the three victims in Ohio were stabbed and beaten to death before they were buried in a park.

He’s one of nearly two dozen people arrested in connection with an investigation into MS-13 operations in Ohio.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.