Five individuals have been sentenced in connection with the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, killed last year days ahead of the country's August 20th election.

Villavicencio, a former journalist, was killed on August 9 last year, as he left a school in Ecuador's capital, Quito, following a campaign rally in a tragic attack that left thirteen others injured.

Following the assassination of Villavicencio, his running mate Andrea Gonzalez Nader was initially named as the party's choice for the presidential race. However, the party later revealed that Ecuadorian journalist Christian Zurita would be their candidate in the election.

Despite this shocking event, Diana Atamaint, the president of the National Electoral Council of Ecuador, announced that the early presidential election on August 20 would proceed as planned. She assured the public that the country's armed forces would ensure the safety of the electoral process and pledged to double the security measures for the remaining presidential candidates.

On Friday, two individuals identified as instigators were each sentenced to 34 years and eight months in prison. Additionally, three accomplices received 12-year prison sentences each.

Gang-affiliated assassination? 

The prosecutor's office revealed that at least two of those convicted were associated with the Los Lobos crime gang, one of the 22 criminal organizations designated as terrorists by President Daniel Noboa in January.

Carlos Angulo, one of the instigators, coordinated the assassination from within a prison in Ecuador, providing instructions via videoconference to another individual, and the planning details were discovered on their mobile phones. The latter is yet to be tried.

Laura Castillo, the second instigator, was responsible for supplying the gunmen with logistics, including motorcycles and money.

The three accomplices, identified as Erick Ramirez, Victor Flores, and Alexandra Chimbo, fed information to the assassins regarding Villavicencio's movement. The prosecutors requested the maximum sentence for all five defendants.

Angulo and Castillo were also ordered to pay $100,000 each in compensation to Villavicencio's family, while the three accomplices were required to pay $33,000 each.

As the sentences were announced, Villavicencio's family and friends held a demonstration in Quito, carrying posters, photographs of Villavicencio, and flags to commemorate the candidate known for his journalism, who exposed corruption and connections between organized crime and politicians. He had previously reported receiving threats, but the exact motive for his assassination remains unclear.

Thirteen people were initially accused in the case, including several Colombians who were murdered in prisons in Guayaquil and Quito while in pre-trial detention last October. Investigations are still ongoing to discover who ordered the hit.