How Jorge ‘Rivi’ Ayala’s phone sex scandal jeopardized Griselda Blanco’s murder case

Warning: This post contains spoilers for “Griselda.”

Griselda Blanco’s story could have ended differently if it wasn’t for Jorge “Rivi” Ayala, one of her former hitmen.

The new Netflix series “Griselda” is a fictionalized dramatization of the Colombian drug queenpin’s life, especially how she built an empire dealing cocaine in the late ‘70s and ‘80s in Miami. Sofia Vergara stars as Blanco.

The real Blanco was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug trafficking. Meanwhile, the state of Florida attempted to build a first-degree murder case against her.

“Griselda” shows how moment the prosecution’s case fell apart, and what her former hitman, Jorge “Rivi“ Ayala, had to do with it.

How did Jorge 'Rivi' Ayala's phone sex scandal play into Griselda Blanco's murder case?

Blanco was indicted by the United States district court for the southern district of New York for conspiring to manufacture, import into the United States, and distribute cocaine, andfinally was arrested in 1985. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In 1993, Ayala pleaded guilty to three killings, including the murder of 2-year-old Johnny Castro, which is depicted in “Griselda,” and was sentenced to life in prison.

Nelson Andreu, a former West Miami police chief who spent ten years of his life building a case against Blanco, told TODAY.com Ayala cooperated with prosecutors in sharing details about Blanco’s killings.

In 1994, Blanco was charged with first-degree murder in Castro’s 1982 death and the deaths of drug dealers and married couple Alfredo and Grizel Lorenzo, per the Tampa Bay Times’ reporting.

Ayala, set to be the prosecution’s star witness, was alleged to be having phone sex with secretaries from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. One of the three secretaries fired was cleared of wrongdoing, per the Orlando Sentinel.

Andreu told TODAY.com how Ayala’s scandal impacted the case.

“The State Attorney’s Office lost all credibility. Even though it was due to the secretary and not the prosecutor,” he says.

While speaking with TODAY.com, actor Martín Rodríguez explained how he got into the mindset of his character, Rivi, and how he had to build the trust.

“At first I had to trust in the character and defend him,” the actor said, adding that he had to find the “humanity” within the person. “He had a complex personality and was ambiguous in the way he acted.”

What happened to Jorge 'Rivi' Ayala after the scandal?

Ayala was already serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to three murders.  He was denied parole in 2012, per the Miami Herald. Then, in 2013, the Miami Herald reported that a judge “denied his bid to explore claims that Miami-Dade prosecutors, back in 1993, agreed in a ‘handshake deal’ to help him seek parole after 25 years in prison.” Ayala’s lawyer Jim Lewis said, “He doesn’t deserve to die in prison. He’s atoned for what he’s had done.”

Blanco cut a plea deal after the phone sex scandal, pleading guilty to three counts of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to serve three concurrent 20-year sentences.

In 2004, she was deported to Colombia and was assassinated in 2012. She was 69 years old.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com