CARJACKER GETS 53 YEARS.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - A 17-year-old Lancaster boy described as a member of a long-established East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. street gang has been sentenced to 53 years to life in prison for committing two carjackings. Mario Garcia, who was tried as an adult, had moved to Lancaster several months before the February carjackings, and authorities believe he was coaching local teens in gangster life, said Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake said. Garcia, who turns 18 next month, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted by a jury in September of carjacking The criminal taking of a motor vehicle from its driver by force, violence, or intimidation. The u.s. justice department categorizes the crime of carjacking as a "completed or attempted Robbery of a motor vehicle by a stranger , felony evading, use of a firearm and committing the offenses to benefit a criminal street gang. Garcia's attorney had argued that the youth was only a novice and was forced to commit crimes by veteran gangsters, who had threatened to kill him. In each of the two carjackings, Garcia acted with an accomplice accomplice: see accessory. . Aaron Matheu, 18, has been charged in the first carjacking. The second suspected accomplice has not been identified. Matheu also has been charged with attempted murder In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill. in connection with two drive-by shootings Aug. 18 and 19 that targeted five witnesses to a shooting in March. Also charged in that case is Matheu's brother, Byron, 24, and Juan Rodriguez, 19, officials said. Garcia, who was found unfit to be tried as a juvenile, is a member of a gang called Varrio Nueva Estrada, which authorities said was an established East Los Angeles street gang with more than 500 members. A gang expert testified that there are 60 to 70 VNE VNE Velocity Never Exceed VNE Velocity Not to Exceed (aviation) VNE Varrio Nuevo Estrada (Los Angeles, CA gang) VNE Virtual Natural Environment VNE Visiting Nurse Educators VNE Video Network Element members in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley , Blake had said. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion