Ex-Knights Templar leader "La Tuta" gets 47 years for his crimes

Servando Gómez Martnez, aka "La Tuta," the former leader of the Knights Templar, was indicted on charges of organized crime and crimes against health.

Ex-Knights Templar leader "La Tuta" gets 47 years for his crimes
Servando Gómez, "La Tuta", former leader of the "Caballeros Templarios" of Michoacan, a cartel that sowed corruption and terror in the state for more than a decade, was sentenced to 47 years in prison. Credit: Attorney General's Office

The Attorney General's Office (FGR) got Servando Gómez Martínez, also known as "La Tuta" and the former leader of the Knights Templar, a 47-year prison sentence. It was proven that the person was responsible for crimes of organized crime (committing crimes against health while in a leadership role) and crimes against health (by encouraging others to do the same kind of crimes).

After investigations by the FEMDO on behalf of the ministry, it was found that Servando Gómez Martínez and others were in charge of a criminal group with management and administrative duties. The group's main job was to sell drugs in different parts of the country, mostly in Michoacán.

In March 2015, members of the former Federal Police arrested Servando Gómez Martínez who is being held at the Federal Center for Social Readaptation Number One "Altiplano" in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico. For the crimes listed above, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) found evidence that led to a sentence of 47 years, six months in prison, and a fine of 13,500,00 days.

Servando Gómez Martinez, "LaTuta," was sentenced to 47 years and 6 months in jail.
Servando Gómez Martinez, "LaTuta," was sentenced to 47 years and 6 months in jail for organized crime and health offenses. Credit: Attorney General's Office

Servando Gómez Martínez: Who is "La Tuta"?

Servando Gómez Martínez, also known as "La Tuta" or "El Profe" was one of the most wanted drug kingpins in Mexico during the six-year term of former president Enrique Peña Nieto (ENP). "La Tuta" was jailed in 2015 for a chocolate cake.

Seven years ago, the Mexican drug lord was caught early on Friday, February 27, on the edge of the city of Morelia, Michoacan. At the time, he had five arrest warrants, and 13 preliminary investigations, and was accused of paying 100,000 pesos a month to different police officers for protection.

Gomez Martinez is from Arteaga, a town in the foothills of "Tierra Caliente" which is in a mountainous area. Before he got involved in crime, "La Tuta" was an elementary school teacher. Between 1981 and 1985, he went to the Arteaga Normal School (CRENAM), which is where he got his job as a teacher.

In March 2015, "La Tuta" was arrested by members of the Federal Police.

He taught first grade for the next 15 years at the Melchor Ocampo elementary school in the same town of Arteaga. During that time, he took part in the "leftist teachers' movement" in Michoacán and the nearby region of Guerrero, both of which were the centers of guerrilla movements that started in 1960.

There, he learned how to get close to people, how to fight as a guerrilla, and how to stay alive in the underground. Before he started making and selling drugs, he helped start several places where young people who had problems with drugs could get help.

La Tuta, the former leader of the Knights Templars gang in Michoacan.
La Tuta, the former leader of the Knights Templars gang in Michoacan.

Rumor has it that after working as a teacher for 15 years, he got tired of his salary and the poor environment he had grown up in. So, in early 2000, he quit his job and went into drug trafficking.