The killing
Fernando Báez Sosa was in Villa Gesell with friends during the summer of 2020. After an incident inside a nightclub, Fernando and several other people were removed from the venue. Minutes later, outside, he was attacked by a group of young men.
The criminal case centered on whether the defendants acted as a coordinated group and on the role played by each individual. Fernando died at the scene. The prosecution later relied heavily on video recordings, witness testimony, forensic findings and digital evidence.
The trial
The case went to trial before Criminal Court No. 1 of Dolores in Buenos Aires Province. On February 6, 2023, the court convicted all eight defendants.
Máximo Thomsen, Ciro Pertossi, Enzo Comelli, Matías Benicelli and Luciano Pertossi were convicted as co-authors and received life imprisonment. Ayrton Viollaz, Blas Cinalli and Lucas Pertossi were convicted as secondary participants and each received 15 years in prison.
The trial court originally treated the homicide as aggravated both by the premeditated participation of two or more people and by treachery, alongside minor-injury counts connected with attacks on Fernando's friends.
The 2024 cassation ruling
On March 22, 2024, the Second Chamber of the Buenos Aires Province Criminal Cassation Court partially accepted a defense argument about the legal classification. It removed the treachery aggravator but kept the aggravating circumstance based on the premeditated participation of two or more people.
Crucially, the court did not reduce the sentences. The five co-authors remained sentenced to life imprisonment and the three secondary participants remained sentenced to 15 years.
What the appellate court said about intent and group action
The cassation judgment reviewed the timing of the defendants' shared intent and the evidence supporting group responsibility. It concluded that the fatal group action was proven from the beginning of the attack and that the premeditated group aggravator remained applicable even without the separate treachery finding.
This distinction matters editorially: the appeal changed one legal element of the conviction, but it did not erase the homicide findings, recast the defendants as equally responsible in every respect, or alter the punishment imposed on any of the eight men.
Timeline
January 18, 2020: Fernando Báez Sosa is killed outside a nightclub in Villa Gesell.
2020–2022: prosecutors build the case using witness accounts, video, forensic and digital evidence.
January 2023: the oral trial takes place before Criminal Court No. 1 of Dolores.
February 6, 2023: all eight defendants are convicted; five receive life imprisonment and three receive 15 years.
March 22, 2024: the provincial cassation court removes the treachery aggravator but maintains the group-homicide classification and every sentence.
Current status
The case is solved and adjudicated for purposes of this archive. The eight convictions remained in force after the 2024 cassation decision. This page does not assume that every later extraordinary appeal available under Argentine procedure has been exhausted unless a reliable court record establishes that point.