Posted on 06/09/2011 5:22:04 PM PDT by mdittmar
YAKIMA, Wash. -- An Outlook teen was sentenced Wednesday to just more than 19 years for a gang-related shooting that targeted two Yakima County sheriff's deputies, wounding one of them.
Jacob Almaguer, 18, entered a modified guilty plea at the same Yakima County Superior Court hearing to first- and second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm, based on his prior juvenile convictions.
Almaguer was initially charged with attempted murder, which county prosecutor Jim Hagarty said could have pushed his sentence toward 60 years if he had been convicted at trial.
Deputy Bobby Miranda was shot in the right leg while investigating reports of gunshots in Outlook in July 2009. Deputy Chris Stearley suffered minor injuries when he dove for cover. Investigators said the shooting was an ambush staged as a gang initiation for Almaguer, who was 16 at the time.
Almaguer maintained his innocence, but entered the Alford plea in order to avoid the prospect of never leaving prison, defense attorney Mickey Krom said. Under an Alford plea, defendants concede that they would likely be convicted at trial but do not make an admission of guilt.
Almaguer did not make a statement on his own behalf.
Hagarty said he was not necessarily happy with the plea agreement, but he said the arrangement guaranteed a conviction in a "complex and convoluted" case that had encountered difficulties with evidence and witnesses who had gang ties.
The sentence is proportionate to other gang-related assault cases in which defendants have accepted plea offers instead of risking effective life sentences, Hagarty said.
The state's key witness, who recently pleaded guilty in her own drive-by shooting case, had initially recanted statements identifying Almaguer as the shooter, although Hagarty had said he remained ready for trial. In April, a 16-year-old Outlook girl expected to testify for the prosecution was fatally shot when four suspected gang members walked up to her house.
Authorities said the girl was not thought to have gang ties, although one of her brothers does. The girl's house was near where the deputy was shot, and authorities said they suspect Almaguer hid in the shadows there at the time.
Weaknesses in the case prompted Judge Ruth Reukauf to reduce Almaguer's bail from $2 million to $50,000. However, the bail company recently had Almaguer put back in jail. Hagarty said he did not know why.
Hagarty said the prosecutor's office had received reports from law enforcement that Almaguer had been spotted outside his house while wearing gang colors. He was returned to custody before prosecutors finished considering how to handle those reports, Hagarty said.
..the ‘donutwatch’ crowd is deeply saddened...
The Yakima Valley is Mexico Norte. Once a great small farm community. Though his name sounds anglo I don’t doubt for a second that the Mexican gangs in the area had something to do with his entry into gangs.
Almaguer is most definitely a Spanish surname.
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