Local News in Brief : Drug Hit Man Convicted
Roberto Lopez, suspected by police of being the hit man in as many as 50 killings tied to Cuban and Colombian drug smugglers, was found guilty by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury Friday of the 1982 murder and attempted murder of two men in Glendale.
Lopez, 35, faces 35 years to life in prison at sentencing. In addition, he could receive the death penalty if convicted of the 1983 murders of a husband and wife in Hollywood. That case, which allegedly also involved drug dealing, is scheduled to go to trial in May.
Lopez, a Cuban refugee, reportedly is suspected of committing murders in New York and Florida as well, but prosecutors have said they lack the evidence to try him in other cases.
In the Glendale case, Lopez was convicted of murdering Oscar Orozco, 28, of Burbank and trying to kill Julian Perez, 27, of Glendale.
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