A Mexican judge convicted the three men of the 2024 murders a week after they were found guilty. Published October 17, 2026 October 17, 2026 Three Mexican men have been sentenced to more than 158 years in prison each for the murder of two Australian brothers and their American friend during a surfing trip off the Mexican coast of Baja California in 2024. A Mexican judge in the coastal city of Ensenada, in the state of Baja California, ruled on Friday that Jesús Gerardo García, alias “El Kekas”, Irineo Francisco “N” and Ángel Jesús “N” would each serve 158 years and nine months in prison for homicide, robbery with violence and vehicle theft with violence. The defendants were found guilty a week ago of the murders of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson, aged 33 and 30, respectively, and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30. The case shocked Mexico’s tourism industry by exposing the risks foreigners face when visiting the country. Previously, the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Baja California requested an “exemplary sentence” of 210 years in prison for each defendant. Antonio Otánez, president of the Baja California surfers association, celebrated the result and said that “justice has been done.” Otánez acknowledged that the murders had caused a “significant drop” in tourist visits, particularly by surfers, to the region known for its beautiful beaches. Brothers Robinson and Rhoad traveled to Mexico at the end of April 2024 to surf on a beach in Punta San José, near the popular tourist town of Ensenada. The three friends camped on the beach the night of April 27, 2024. Authorities launched a multi-day search with the help of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after the men were missing for several days. The bodies were found on May 3 in a well more than 15 meters (50 feet) deep, all with gunshot wounds to the head. The brothers’ father, Martin Robinson, said the “guilty verdict is a significant moment in our long and painful journey to seek justice for our beautiful sons, Callum and Jake, and their friend Carter Rhoad, whose lives were so cruelly taken from them in 2024.”
