Jacobo Montalvo, 60, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, for the 2023 abduction and strangling of 29-year-old Alicia Gallegos in Lansing, Michigan. And in a final twist of defiance, the newly sentenced killer was immediately hit with another 93 days in jail after Ingham County Circuit Judge Rosemarie Aquilina found him in contempt for making an obscene gesture at someone who was addressing the court during the hearing.
TL;DR: Montalvo, also known as Jake, was convicted September 1 of first-degree murder and unlawful imprisonment after prosecutors showed jurors surveillance video, DNA evidence, and photos linking him to Gallegos’s October 2023 killing. Judge Aquilina imposed the mandatory life-without-parole sentence plus 14 to 22 years for unlawful imprisonment, then added 93 days for contempt when Montalvo flashed an obscene gesture in court.
Abducted in Downtown Lansing, Found in the Woods
Alicia Gallegos, 29, a Lansing mother of three, was snatched off a downtown street on the morning of October 15, 2023. Her partially clothed body was discovered the next morning by a utility worker in a wooded area along Iosco Road in White Oak Township, east of M-52 in eastern Ingham County, the Lansing State Journal reported.
A pathologist determined that Gallegos died from asphyxia caused by strangulation or suffocation, with blunt force trauma as a contributing factor, and that ligature marks on her wrists showed she had been bound, according to trial testimony.
The Evidence That Sealed the Verdict
The case was built on an overwhelming trail of evidence gathered by Ingham County investigators. Five detectives knocked on every door within a four-block radius of the abduction scene, and cooperating businesses supplied a montage of surveillance video clips documenting the abduction and showing someone loading a body into a vehicle that appeared to be Montalvo’s, the Journal reported.
When investigators searched Montalvo’s home on Maplehill Avenue and his white SUV, they found blood matching Gallegos’s DNA, black zip ties, and blood stains inside the vehicle. GPS data placed Montalvo in the area where her body was found. Perhaps most chilling, photos of Gallegos’s partially clothed body, taken in his basement, were recovered from Montalvo’s cellphone. On September 1, after a week-long trial, jurors deliberated for less than an hour before convicting Montalvo of first-degree murder and unlawful imprisonment.
A Victim’s Family Speaks
Before the sentence was imposed, Gallegos’s family told the court who she really was. Her twin brother, Andres Gallegos, described a kind and loving mother of three with “a beautiful soul,” saying: “She was a mom. She was a twin. She was a daughter. She was a best friend. She never hurt anybody,” the Journal reported.
Montalvo, who continued to maintain his innocence, showed no remorse. Judge Aquilina told him: “All she wanted is to love her children and live her life, (and) that was cut short by your hands.”
Life Without Parole — Plus 93 Days for Contempt
Aquilina imposed the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Michigan: life in prison without the possibility of parole. She added a concurrent term of 14 to 22 years for unlawful imprisonment.
Then, the hearing took an extraordinary turn. During the proceedings, Montalvo made an obscene gesture directed at someone who was addressing the court. Aquilina found him in contempt on the spot and sentenced him to an additional 93 days in jail — a term that does not run concurrently with his life sentence and serves as its own standalone punishment, the Journal reported.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jacobo Montalvo?
Jacobo Montalvo, 60, also known as Jake, is a Lansing, Michigan man convicted of abducting and murdering 29-year-old Alicia Gallegos in October 2023. He maintained his innocence through trial and sentencing.
What happened to Alicia Gallegos?
Alicia Gallegos, a 29-year-old mother of three, was abducted from a downtown Lansing street on the morning of October 15, 2023, and killed. Her body was found the next morning in a wooded area in White Oak Township, east of M-52. The pathologist determined she died from asphyxia due to strangulation or suffocation, with blunt force trauma as a contributing factor.
What was the evidence against Montalvo?
Prosecutors presented surveillance video documenting the abduction, Gallegos’s blood found in Montalvo’s home and SUV, black zip ties in the vehicle, GPS data placing him where her body was found, and photos of her body on his cellphone. Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before convicting him.
What sentence did Montalvo receive?
On October 14, 2026, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sentenced Montalvo to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder, plus a concurrent 14 to 22 years for unlawful imprisonment.
Why did he get an extra 93 days in jail?
Judge Aquilina found Montalvo in contempt of court for making an obscene gesture at someone who was addressing the court during the sentencing hearing. She sentenced him to 93 days in jail for the contempt, to be served separately from his other sentences.
Who was Alicia Gallegos?
Gallegos was a 29-year-old Lansing mother of three who had struggled with drug addiction in her final years. Her twin brother described her as a kind and loving person with “a beautiful soul” who was a mother, a twin, a daughter and a best friend who never hurt anybody.
Where did the abduction take place?
The abduction occurred in downtown Lansing, near East Lenawee Street and South Washington Square, where surveillance video captured Montalvo pulling Gallegos into a dark alley and loading her into an SUV.
Where was Gallegos’s body found?
Her partially clothed body was found on the morning of October 16, 2023, in a wooded area along Iosco Road near Brogan Road in White Oak Township, between Webberville and Stockbridge, by a contract utility worker.
