A Miami-Dade jury has convicted Cuban rapper Chocolate MC, legally known as Yosvanis Sierra Hernández, for orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme targeting an inmate accused of killing fellow artist El Taiger.
Prosecutors said that in December 2024, Sierra Hernández sent electronic messages threatening Damián Valdés Galloso, who is charged with murdering reggaeton singer José Manuel Carbajal Zaldívar, known professionally as El Taiger. Jurors also found that Sierra Hernández attempted to recruit other inmates inside the Miami-Dade correctional system to carry out the attack.
The state introduced Instagram posts as critical evidence—including a story in which Sierra Hernández allegedly offered $20,000 and a year of commissary to anyone willing to kill Valdés Galloso. Prosecutors also pointed to a song he posted titled “Pincha Lo,” which they said translates to “stab him.”
Defendant breaks down on the stand
During his testimony, Sierra Hernández cried when speaking about El Taiger, whom he described as a longtime friend. Through a translator, he told jurors, “Maybe at one point I did not express myself the right way, or the way I should have. But I’m not capable of killing anyone.”
At one point, he held up a yellow notepad with the phrase, “Dios conmigo, ¿quién contra mí?”—“God is with me, so who could be against me?”
Jury rejects defense
The jury deliberated for less than two hours before unanimously convicting Sierra Hernández of soliciting first-degree murder and making written threats to kill or cause bodily harm.
His girlfriend, Yelena, cried as the verdict was read, later insisting in Spanish, “They said he’s guilty, but it’s an injustice. He didn’t kill anyone. He’s not a killer.”
Additional legal issues
Sierra Hernández is also facing separate charges in an unrelated Opa-locka incident from last June, when he allegedly pointed a firearm at a fan before fleeing the scene.
Sentencing
He now faces up to 15 years in prison and is expected to return to court in early December for sentencing.
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