Teen sentenced to 50 years in prison

"Teen Sentenced to 50 Years to Life

 

Posted by: Tony Spearman

 

Santa Ana (myFOXla.com) - A 14-year-old boy who acted as a driver for gang members who killed two rivals in Santa Ana was sentenced on Tuesday to 50 years to life in prison, despite the fact that he turned himself in and never shot at anyone.

 

Marco Antonio Perez, who is now 16, "had no record, he didn't shoot a gun, didn't handle a gun and was completely cooperative with police," said Deputy Public Defender James Appel. "His dad told him to go to the police station and say what happened and that's what he did. And his behavior since then has been stellar."

 

But Perez was found guilty June 25 of two counts of murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, attempted murder and street terrorism, with sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity and the vicarious discharge of a firearm as a gang member causing death and bodily injury.

 

Prosecutors sought a maximum sentence of 143 years to life in prison, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey decided to let him be eligible for parole in 50 years.

 

On Dec. 17, 2006, Perez, who had just turned 14 and was legally too young to drive, took his dad's car and drove older gang members -- Norberto Hernandez, 24; Angel Garcia, 21; Juan Roldan, 19; Oiram Roman Ayala, 20; and Prospero Guadarrama, 19 -- looking for rival gang members, said Farrah Emami of the Orange County District Attorney's office.

 

Angel Secundino, 14, and Gabriel Pererz, 15, were shot and killed, and Fernando Garcia, 16, was shot in the stomach but survived after seven surgeries, Emami said.

 

Garcia was convicted of murder Jan. 26 and was sentenced to two life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 50 years to life.

 

Hernandez was found guilty of murder March 26 and sentenced to two life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 93 years to life.

 

Roldan and Ayala are scheduled to go on trial Jan. 25, 2010. Guadarrama is scheduled to go on trial March 1, 2010.

 

Perez's attorney said he didn't shoot anyone and had just met the gang members.

 

Perez earned his general equivalency degree in two years and has a reading habit that has him going through three novels a week, Appel said.

 

"He's read more than 300 books and these are novels, like (Dean) Koontz and (Robert) Ludlum," Appel said. "He's really turned his life around."

 

If Perez earns time off for good behavior, he could get out when he's in his late 50s or early 60s, Appel said."

 

 

 

I just wanted to hear your guys' thoughts on this. I feel for the kid although he made a stupid decision. Fitting in is a major issue being a teen, and I'm sure this kid doesnt live in a great community where there are more groups of potentially well behaved kids. He was definitely at the wrong place at the wrong time, and made a life changing mistake. But I feel like his sentence might have been too severe. If they are that severe with his sentence for turning himself in, cooperating with authorities, and for potentially being a proper citizen after realizing what he has done, then why arent the sentences more severe for rapist, murderers, and the like? Your thoughts?

 

Sound off.

Honestly I agree. Trying to throw the book at him for all his cooperation is pathetic. He did make a bad decision and he deserves to pay for it but I think what they did is a bit too severe. Perhaps there is more to the story that we dont know.....who knows...

Ok... Pretty clear he was a MEMBER of the gang. Gang members dont invite strangers to drive them on drive bys.... The PD is talking out his ass (which is his job).

 

Strike one.

 

 

HE STOLE his dads car.

 

Strike two.

 

 

I have to assume he KNEW WHY THEY WANTED THE CAR and WHAT THEY PLANNED TO DO.

 

Strike three.

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that his conscience (or his dad) got the better of him AFTER he participated in a double homicide, is TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. Two people are dead, and all the confessions and cooperation after the fact cant alter that.

 

 

So The D.A.s job isnt just to prosecute people who dont turn themselves in. His job is to prosecute EVERYBODY who he believes violated the law. Old people, young people, people who read lots of books, and people who cant read. The D.A. doesn't care. He CANT CARE if the administration of justice is to be fair and equitable. And gang violence is a scourge that is on the TOP of D.A.s lists....

 

The jury was presented with a definition of Conspiracy to Commit Murder. "A person who agrees or conspires with somebody else to commit or aid in the commission of Murder, is guilty of the same."

 

 

You'll notice there is no "Except if they turn themselves in later." Or "Except if theyre otherwise good people."

 

So it comes down to the Judge, and Judge's hands are largely tied when it comes to Murder and gang murders. People want gang members who murder warehoused. And so theyve elected legislators who have passed laws that prescribe minimum sentences for certain crimes.

Its a ridiculous sentence, but unfortunately this happens a lot. I am assuming the kid was tried as an adult. A more appropriate punishment would be to place him in a juvenile facility until he was 21 and at least attempt to rehabilitate him. As it stands, it will cost the state more than a million dollars to incarcerate him, then when he is released, another several hundred k in social assistance until he dies, due to the fact he will be too old to work. What a waste.

Ok... Pretty clear he was a MEMBER of the gang. Gang members dont invite strangers to drive them on drive bys.... The PD is talking out his ass (which is his job).

 

Strike one.

 

 

HE STOLE his dads car.

 

Strike two.

 

 

I have to assume he KNEW WHY THEY WANTED THE CAR and WHAT THEY PLANNED TO DO.

 

Strike three.

 

 

The fact that his conscience (or his dad) got the better of him AFTER he participated in a double homicide, is TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. Two people are dead, and all the confessions and cooperation after the fact cant alter that.

 

So The D.A.s job isnt just to prosecute people who dont turn themselves in. His job is to prosecute EVERYBODY who he believes violated the law. Old people, young people, people who read lots of books, and people who cant read. The D.A. doesn't care. He CANT CARE if the administration of justice is to be fair and equitable. And gang violence is a scourge that is on the TOP of D.A.s lists....

 

The jury was presented with a definition of Conspiracy to Commit Murder. "A person who agrees or conspires with somebody else to commit or aid in the commission of Murder, is guilty of the same."

 

You'll notice there is no "Except if they turn themselves in later." Or "Except if theyre otherwise good people."

 

So it comes down to the Judge, and Judge's hands are largely tied when it comes to Murder and gang murders. People want gang members who murder warehoused. And so theyve elected legislators who have passed laws that prescribe minimum sentences for certain crimes.

 

 

That's all understandable, but I dont think he was part of the gang yet. If we're talking specifics, it seems as though it may have been somewhat of an initiation, but I am going to assume, he wanted to see how it was going to be. He was testing the waters maybe? Again I think everything you're saying is completely reasonable, but gang members are very manipulative, and will do whatever it takes to get the weakling to think what they're doing is "cool". I think there is a chance he didnt know what was going to happen, he might have been lied to, and just wanted to fit in, so he went along with these stupid decisions. I'm not FOR what he did, but I still think the sentence might be unreasonable. Hence why dont we just give all the rapists, murderers, and thugs the death penalty, and the ones such as this kid kept in jail for 50 odd years? If we're talking pound for pound, this kid didnt do anything anywhere near what the news have been reporting lately...and what we've been seeing on this board alone.

the worst part is he will end up (more than likely) worse off when he sees freedom again.

 

"dont do the crime if you aint got the time."

I'd say the sentencing is pretty harsh.... I agree with Bernard about locking him up until he's 21 and then go from there... still 5 years, which is a reasonable amount of time to think about what happened....

Not to comment on the severity of the sentence but if they are going to impose a sentence like this and make an example of the kid, then let the country know.

 

Put out public service announcements, tell it in schools, let kids and parents know.

 

There isn't much point in putting a 14 year old in prison for 50 years for driving the car if they aren't going to make a massive effort to let other 13, 14, 15 and 16 year old kids know that this is what happens.

This is what will happen if you get involved in a gang and participate in gang activity.

 

I'm not saying the sentence is right or wrong, but if they can reach other teenagers out there and make them think twice about doing this, then it will have some purpose and reason.

I"m all for harsh punishments, but I believe this was too severe.

How many lives would he take if he got off eazy. May save more as example of what not to do.

Good riddiance. Zebras rarely change stripes.

There was a drug dealer kid in high school who was a big ass punk, always talked shit, always screwed people, failing in every class, but he played Lacrosse in his spare time. When he was "dragged" behind a car by a rope till he was dead by someone he screwed, the newspaper story was an interview from his parents on what a good, smart kid he was who was active with local sports and an asset to the community.

 

If the kid got 50 to life in court, I bet the little fucker deserved every bit of it.

Its a ridiculous sentence, but unfortunately this happens a lot. I am assuming the kid was tried as an adult. A more appropriate punishment would be to place him in a juvenile facility until he was 21 and at least attempt to rehabilitate him. As it stands, it will cost the state more than a million dollars to incarcerate him, then when he is released, another several hundred k in social assistance until he dies, due to the fact he will be too old to work. What a waste.

 

Maybe true, but if they let him out at 21 rehabilitated and he goes out on another drive by killing spree and kills me, then it'll cost the state 100's of millions, plus all the money I would have paid in taxes were I to have remained alive and WORKING, when my parent's lawyers get through with the state of CA for not sentencing his ass to 50 years to life.

 

I think you're well intentioned with the above paragraph Mr. Vroom, but wrong nonetheless.

 

fcuk em all, I want them off the streets, he's gonna have plenty of time to read a million books in maximum security.

intriguing responses...it definitely puts a new perspective on things...keep them coming!

I feel sorry for the kid but feel worse for the kids that got the short end of the stick, the ones that died!

At least he likes reading, he will have plenty of time on his hands.

 

I watched few shows about gangs in US, very scary, kids sporting AK 47 bragging about killings, murders; they interviewed a guy in his mid 30's, he was with his 10 year old son in the car, openly talking about people that he killed teaching his son how to kill rival gang members.

Given the severity of the penalties you can see how big of a problem gang violence is and the government measures to eradicate it, I am with Mr Vroom, waste of tax payers money but sometimes you have to chose between $ and safety of your citizens.

Difficult to say without any further information like how involved he was within the gang but certainly for me if he was a junior player in the gang the sentence is too hard.

However no pun intended but if he was not the driving force (as claimed in the article and the lawyer) the punishment does not represent the crime fully. If anything the punishment is sending out the wrong messages, co-operate with the police then they will still bend you over.

Whilst Roman makes some fair points about the law and the letter of it, we all know it is a tough job for the police at the best of times and if people know cooperation means nothing that is what the police will get nothing; meaning it is harder to police and the system has to work harder. Good news for the legal world, bad news for tax payers.

 

The sentence the actually killers got represent the fact that someone has not got their child/brother coming home tonight.

In my opinion 10 years if he can prove he is turning the corner but would be interesting to hear what the parents of the victims think.

Not to comment on the severity of the sentence but if they are going to impose a sentence like this and make an example of the kid, then let the country know.

 

Put out public service announcements, tell it in schools, let kids and parents know.

 

There isn't much point in putting a 14 year old in prison for 50 years for driving the car if they aren't going to make a massive effort to let other 13, 14, 15 and 16 year old kids know that this is what happens.

This is what will happen if you get involved in a gang and participate in gang activity.

 

I'm not saying the sentence is right or wrong, but if they can reach other teenagers out there and make them think twice about doing this, then it will have some purpose and reason.

 

There are around 3,000 juveniles in US jails who have been tried as ADULTS and sentenced to life WITHOUT parole, so this is not a big news item per se..... Florida will even sentence a minor to LWOP, for crimes less than murder.

 

Slightly OT, but food for thought.....2,300,000 people currently reside in American jails, the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world, and for a comparison, around 6 times higher than the Canadian rate. We generally only read about the violent crimes, but around half the inmates are doing time for non violent, drug related crime, and the perecentage of minorities in prison is vastly disproportionate to their percentage of the general population. Years ago some prison money was spent on rehab and education, but now, its just wharehousing. The underlying assumption is that personal redemption is not possible, so lock 'em up and throw away the key. Prisons and criminal justice are big biz in this country, altough at some point locking up so many people will become cost prohibitive.

Ben makes a good point, without having the full story it's hard to know if he was over punished, and most likely he wasn't.

I think it is a sign of the times. The pendulum may be starting to swing back to a less liberal attitude about criminality.

I`m assuming the boys voluntary surrender helped lead to the other convictions?

 

A sentence like this isn't going to encourage anyone to come forward like this boy did.

 

It seems harsh in the circumstances.

I`m assuming the boys voluntary surrender helped lead to the other convictions?

 

A sentence like this isn't going to encourage anyone to come forward like this boy did.

 

It seems harsh in the circumstances.

Harsher than what??? If he didnt surrender and they caught him what do you think the sentence might've been?

 

The risk is in NOT turning yourself in...

In my non-legal-educated opinion, I would say I can understand the punishment for the crime. The fact that he reads so much would point to the fact that he has to be intelligent enough to have known what he was doing. It's not like he was some Forrest Gump type that the gang convinced to be the driver.

 

Perez's attorney said he didn't shoot anyone and had just met the gang members.

 

If he'd just met them, that was a stoooooopid thing to do.

 

Now if he was driving along and some little kid ran out in the middle of the street chasing their ball and before he can stop, he plows right over the kid and kills them, well then I can see such a punishment being way too harsh.

I don't think he should have been given an easy sentence but I do think 50 years is a bit much. Every case is unique but it seems like people go to prison for under 10 years for more serious crimes than that all the time. If hypothetically asked by a judge, I'd suggest 15 years without parole as a more fitting sentence. Half a century seems over the top.

 

Edit: After reading Roman's post below, it does seem like a more severe sentence is appropriate. I don't think 50 years is too high anymore.

Marco Antonio Perez, 16, was prosecuted as an adult and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Two other gang members have already been sentenced to multiple life sentences for their roles in the shootings; three others are awaiting trial.The shootings happened in 2006, when Perez was 14 years old. According to prosecutors, he took his father’s car and drove with the others into a rival gang neighborhood in Santa Ana, looking for rivals to kill.They found three, ages 14, 15 and 16.They shot the 14-year-old and the 15-year-old in the head, execution style, according to the District Attorney’s statement. They shot the 16-year-old in the stomach, leaving him in a coma. He survived after undergoing seven surgeries.A jury in June found Perez guilty of two felony counts of special-circumstances murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of street terrorism. The jury also added sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity and the vicarious discharge of a firearm as a gang member causing death and bodily injury.Two co-defendants, Norberto Hernandez, 24, and Angel Garcia, 21, were convicted earlier this year on similar charges; Hernandez was also found guilty of one felony count of assault with a firearm.Hernandez was sentenced to two life sentences in state prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional 93 years to life. Garcia was sentenced to two life sentences without parole plus an additional 50 years to life.Three other co-defendants, all of them juveniles at the time of the crimes but being prosecuted as adults, are scheduled to go to trial early next year. Juan Roldan, 19, and Oiram Roman Ayala, 20, both face the same charges as Hernandez. Prospero Guadarrama, 19, faces the same charges as Perez.

The District Attorney’s Office alleges that Hernandez, Roldan and Ayala also walked into rival gang territory two days before the deadly shooting and confronted members of another gang. The two groups began shooting at each other, and a 47-year-old street vendor who was selling corn from a cart was caught in the crossfire.The vendor was hit in the back and paralyzed from the waist down.

 

 

Hes a Latin King Gang member....

 

He CLAIMS he did not pull the trigger..... Suffice it to say, the Jury didnt believe him.

So lets recap...he DROVE the car from where a group of gangbangers shot and killed...murdered two other people and put another in a coma...and for being involved in taking two lives, and putting a third in coma...and all he got was 50 years? To me he's just as culpable as those who pulled the trigger (not sure why its not felony murder here). Unless they pulled this kid from the library or otherwise used some type of force or threat of force (which would not completely mitigate his actions, but I would have more sympathy), then I don't have too much sympathy. Harsh penalty? Yes, but the crime was harsh as well.

Ok... Pretty clear he was a MEMBER of the gang. Gang members dont invite strangers to drive them on drive bys.... The PD is talking out his ass (which is his job).

 

Strike one.

 

 

HE STOLE his dads car.

 

Strike two.

 

 

I have to assume he KNEW WHY THEY WANTED THE CAR and WHAT THEY PLANNED TO DO.

 

Strike three.

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that his conscience (or his dad) got the better of him AFTER he participated in a double homicide, is TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. Two people are dead, and all the confessions and cooperation after the fact cant alter that.

 

 

So The D.A.s job isnt just to prosecute people who dont turn themselves in. His job is to prosecute EVERYBODY who he believes violated the law. Old people, young people, people who read lots of books, and people who cant read. The D.A. doesn't care. He CANT CARE if the administration of justice is to be fair and equitable. And gang violence is a scourge that is on the TOP of D.A.s lists....

 

The jury was presented with a definition of Conspiracy to Commit Murder. "A person who agrees or conspires with somebody else to commit or aid in the commission of Murder, is guilty of the same."

 

 

You'll notice there is no "Except if they turn themselves in later." Or "Except if theyre otherwise good people."

 

So it comes down to the Judge, and Judge's hands are largely tied when it comes to Murder and gang murders. People want gang members who murder warehoused. And so theyve elected legislators who have passed laws that prescribe minimum sentences for certain crimes.