A drug trafficker from Mexico pleaded guilty Monday in San Diego federal court to taking part in the shooting deaths of a married couple with whom he had allegedly conspired to traffic drugs, including a mother who was six months pregnant with her fourth child.

Benjamin Madrigal Birrueta, 24, admitted in a plea agreement that he and others shot and killed the husband in August 2022 during a dispute on a ranch in Washington state. Madrigal admitted that several days later, he lured the man’s pregnant wife to the same ranch with the promise that she could speak with her husband, but instead his co-conspirators shot and killed her.

Madrigal admitted that he directed co-conspirators to bury the victims’ bodies in the high desert outside Yakima, Wash. Their remains went undiscovered for more

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