The former alleged high priestess of a drug-trafficking cult imprisoned in connection with the sacrificial deaths of 30 people has been awarded a literature prize for the second year in a row, Mexican media reported Wednesday.
Sara Aldrete Villarreal, jailed in Mexico City, received second place in the national Jose Revueltas contest for a story titled "Why Should I Tell You?"
Last year, she won third price in the same contest for the story "Love Kills He Who Loves," the Reforma newspaper reported.
The prize reportedly is co-sponsored by Mexico's federal Institute of Fine Arts in conjunction with the city's Department of Social Rehabilitation.
A spokeswoman from the Institute of Fine Arts said she had no information on the prize. Attempts to reach a spokesman at the Department of Social Rehabilitation were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Aldrete was the high priestess of a drug-trafficking cult in northern Mexico. She was arrested after police raided a ranch outside the border city of Matamoros in 1989 and discovered 30 buried bodies, all of which showed signs of ritual sacrifice. One of the victims was Mark Kilroy, a 21-year-old university student from Santa Fe, Texas.
Authorities say the cult was led by Cuban-American Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, who allegedly told his followers human sacrifices would give them immunity from police.
Aldrete has admitted knowing Constanzo, but denied all involvement in smuggling, murder or witchcraft.
Each was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the maximum sentence in Mexico, for premeditated murder.