A debt collector for a Mexican drug cartel was sentenced Monday to about 30½ years in prison for a brutal 2012 murder in St. Paul.
Santana M. Valdez, 38, was convicted by jurors in 2013 in Ramsey County District Court of two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32¼ years in prison. The Minnesota Court of Appeals sent the case back for a second sentencing after Valdez challenged 20 months of that sentence.
Authorities had sought an upward departure at the first sentencing, based on the brutality of the crime.
Andrew W. Braun, 38, bled to death after being assaulted in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Valdez sprayed Braun in the eyes with hairspray before Valdez and two others attacked Braun, fatally injuring him with a screwdriver, a samurai sword, a bayonet and human teeth.
Braun allegedly owed $12,000 to a drug dealer.
When given an opportunity to address the court Monday, Valdez noted how much blood his two conspirators had on their clothes following the attack. (His attorney had previously noted that Valdez did not have blood on his clothes, and maintains his innocence.)
Ramsey County District Judge Gregg Johnson admonished him before sentencing him.
"This was a horrific crime," Johnson said. "You were involved and you have not accepted your role in this murder."
