(Spencer)– A mexican man was convicted Friday in the drug-related slaying of a northern Iowa 15-year-old in 1997.
Humberto Castillo-Alvarez faces up to 85 years in prison for taking Gregory “Sky” Erickson from his home in Estherville and shooting him in the head.
Castillo-Alvarez will be sentenced in March for second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.
Prosecutors allege that Castillo-Alvarez headed a drug ring in Estherville and that Erickson was killed because he owed drug money to the gang.
Nine people already have been convicted for the slaying and have received sentences ranging from five years to life in prison.
Castillo-Alvarez was extradited to Iowa from Houston in 2006 after being returned to the United States from Mexico.
(Story from the Associated Press.).
