◼ Suspect pleads in McKinleyville murder case
A second of the four suspects accused of murdering a McKinleyville man in February has reached a plea deal with the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office.
Ruben Anthony Peredia, 32, of Eureka, was sentenced to serve 13 years and four months in state prison Friday, after pleading guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and burglary, with a special enhancement for being armed during his role in the shooting death of 30-year-old Ezra Sanders....
In April, four suspects were charged with Sanders' murder: Peredia, Tracey Joleen Williams, 35, of Eureka; Lukus Larry Mace, 31, of Orleans and Jeffrey Allan Burgess, 39, of Eureka. Burgess is also charged with a special allegation of firing the bullet that killed Sanders.
Mace reached a plea deal earlier this month, pleading guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter and agreeing to testify against his co-defendants. Deputy District Attorney Ben McLaughlin said Mace faces a maximum of six years in prison if he complies with his part of the deal.
Burgess and Williams have pleaded not guilty, and have been held to stand trial on charges of murder.
Peredia's plea deal will leave him with two strikes on his record, meaning he will serve a minimum of 85 percent of his sentence, according to his attorney Jeffrey (yougofree.com) Schwartz.
”I think there was significant enough evidence that he felt it was too big of a risk for him to go to trial and look at life without parole,” Schwartz said of Peredia's decision to accept the plea deal. “He just had to balance the risk. ... Several witnesses placed him there. When you assess that evidence, it was a risk he didn't want to take.”
But unlike Mace's deal, Schwartz said, Peredia has no obligation to assist the prosecution's case against the remaining defendants.
”He's sentenced, gone and absolutely doesn't have to say one thing to anybody,” Schwartz said....
Williams and Burgess are scheduled to be re-arraigned Monday. Both face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
That office is beyond a disaster. This incompetence is beyond belief.What, isn't this like the 4th or 5th cold blooded murderer/home invasion robbery that office has sold out on with plea bargain to voluntary manslaughter.this isn't even a strike.
ReplyDeleteYes but if Schwartz was still with the DA's office this guy would be getting 180 days in the county jail and 3 years probation for assault and battery or some such lame charge.
ReplyDeleteNah, he'd be diverted to drug court and touted as a success for the next election.
ReplyDeleteActually, it is a strike. The question I have is how could they legally have plea bargained this to manslaughter. Plea bargaining in a serious felony, is prohibited, unless there is insufficient evidence to prove the people's case, or testimony of a material witness cannot be obtained, or a reduction or dismissal would not result in a substantial change in sentence.
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