Judge rejects jury’s recommendation of death for convicted mastermind of murder plot
A judge spared the life of the mastermind of a sordid murder plot Tuesday, overriding a jury recommendation for death and questioning why he should pay the ultimate price if the man accused of pulling the trigger and other accomplices had previously received lesser sentences.
In a hushed and relatively empty courtroom, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson told Ysrael Granda, 36, that he was going to prison for life for orchestrating the 2012 murder of Jose Soto — the lover of Granda’s long-time girlfriend.
The judge read off a list of accomplices, including the man convicted of conspiracy to commit murder Jonathan Rico, who all received lighter sentences. And she said a history of mental illness and severe trauma as a teenager outweighed the cruelty of the crime enough to keep Granda from death row.
“I hope you spend the rest of your life thinking about the damage you have caused,” Wolfson said to Granda as he leaned back and twiddled his fingers.
The only speaker during the relatively brief hearing was Soto’s wife Carmen Dominguez, who attended the proceeding on Zoom.
“At this point we just want to get it over with,” she said. “My kids didn’t have a father. My grand kids didn’t have a grandpa.”
Granda, who sat alone in the jury box after being denied the right to sit with his attorneys by the judge, said he planned to appeal, then broke out in a big grin as he shook his counsel’s hands. He was quickly led out of the courtroom by corrections officers.
Granda was told he would spend the rest of his life in prison. He received three life sentences from Wolfson, for first-degree murder, solicitation of first-degree murder and burglary with assault. He also received 30 year sentences for conspiracy of first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder.
Granda was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Miami-Dade jury in 2024 for ordering the death of Soto - the lover of Granda’s girlfriend Lisiana Quintero. State prosecutors says Granda ordered Soto’s killing from a Broward County jail, where he was already detained after an earlier failed attempt to kill Soto.
Two months after the 2024 murder conviction that same jury voted 8-4 to send Granda to death for organizing the deadly plot. Ultimately, a death penalty decision, however, rests with the judge.
Had Wolfson upheld the jury’s decision, it would have been the first death sentence since Joel Lebron in 2013, who was convicted of the murder, rape and torture of Miami teenager Ana Maria Angel. She was kidnapped as she took an evening stroll with her boyfriend on South Beach. Ana Marie was shot point blank in the head off to the side of I-95 in Palm Beach County. Her boyfriend survived his throat being slit.
The last person to be executed after a death sentence in Miami-Dade was Jose Antonio Jimenez in 2018. He was convicted of murdering a woman whose home he burglarized in 1992.
Sordid love triangle paves way for murder
Granda’s sentencing puts an end to a sordid love-triangle that gave rise to a murder case that ping-ponged through the legal system for more than a decade. The twisted saga turned several of Granda’s closest acquaintances against him and included allegations of sex behind bars, stolen cellphones and an ill-fated attempt at escape.
There’s also this: Soto’s real name might not even be Soto. That’s because when this saga began back in 2012 after Granda learned that his girlfriend Lisiana Quintero was sleeping with Soto, he was calling himself Rafael Villfane-Rivera. Why he changed his name wasn’t immediately clear.
What is clear is that when Granda learned of his girlfriend’s infidelity in 2012, he set out to kill Soto. Fortunately for Soto, Granda wasn’t a very accurate shot and he missed. But after chasing down Soto and firing into his car a grand jury in Broward County charged Granda with attempted murder.
While Granda was in jail, his first attorney was accused by corrections officers of having sex with Granda and smuggling him cellphones. She denied the accusations.
In jail, Granda was accused of ordering friend Jonathan Rico to finish the job and murder Soto. A few months later in 2012, Rico and Quintero lured Soto to a North Miami-Dade motel where Rico took part in the murder. Charged with first-degree murder, Granda was transferred to a Miami-Dade jail.
Then in April 2021, Granda’s plan to escape went terribly wrong. Prosecutors say Granda was taken to a hospital after forcing a cellphone up his rectum. When doctors gave him medication to stimulate a bowel movement, Granda headed for the bathroom. Alone there, he escaped the room through some ceiling tiles. He was captured in the garage a short time later.
As Wolfson handed Granda his sentence Tuesday, she read off a list of characters who she said were just as involved in Soto’s death as Granda, but who received far lesser sentences. Granda’s younger brother Wilber Granda testified he was the messenger who passed along his brother’s orders to Rico. In exchange for his testimony he received 10 months probation.
Quintero’s testimony against her boyfriend got her a reduced sentence of 13 years. And Rico, tried alongside Granda and who was acquitted of the murder but found guilty of conspiring to kill Soto, has yet to be sentenced and is facing 30 years in prison.
“A death sentence under these crimes will be patently unfair,” Wolfson said.
Attorney: Judge made the right decision
Outside the courtroom Granda’s attorney Charles White said the judge made the right decision and that anything else would have been “disproportionate and unfair.”
The defense attorney cited his client’s long struggle with mental illness and said he suffered irreversible trauma as a teen entangled in a court system. Granda’s other counsel Bruce Fleisher, attended the hearing on Zoom.
“Her announced reasons were very clear,” White said. “All of the other individuals who were involved in the case got lower sentences.”
An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Jonathan Rico was convicted of shooting Jose Soto. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 3:14 PM.
