By Sophia Lu
VENTURA, CA – The accused appeared in Ventura County Superior Court late Thursday for arraignment as well as sentencing for nine separate counts: five misdemeanors and four felonies that range from assault and theft to possession of weapons, a stolen vehicle and identity theft, all allegedly occurring between 2019 and the present day.
Plea deals for the four felony counts were originally accepted on June 2 of this year, calling for two years of custody followed by a 40-month mandatory probation for a combined total of five years and four months.
It was noted, however, that the prosecution at the settlement conference did call for a total of seven years and four months, split into three years in custody and 52 months in mandatory supervision.
The defense, led by Assistant Public Defender Damon Jenkins, asked the court to allow the accused contact with his brother as well as his younger cousin, and also requested the court to grant him an early release in the near future due to an acceptance to the Salvation Army of Santa Monica Adult Rehabilitation Center that they were notified of the day prior, among other requests.
The early release date requested was either July 1 or July 8 of this year, since the Salvation Army has intakes on Fridays, the PD added.
Deputy District Attorney Rameen A. Minoui responded by stating the accused’s brother and younger cousin were involved with him in the criminal activity, and that unless there is a situation where they are all living in the same household, the accused should not continue to have associations with them regardless of their family relations.
Judge Bruce A. Young ruled he would honor the 64-month combined commitment of felony jail that was originally agreed upon for the four felonies at hand.
Judge Young declined the request for early release to the Salvation Army Rehabilitation program due to the number of cases—a total of nine—that have been amassed by the accused, even though he believes that the program would be beneficial to the accused.
The accused is also to have no associations with gang members, with exceptions being made to the accused’s brother and younger cousin, as requested. However, Judge Young granted this request on the condition that the contact pertains to family gatherings and not criminal activity.
If the accused engages in gang-related relations with these two individuals, or any other gang members, he would be risking his 40 months of mandatory supervision for custody instead.
The rest of the sentencing was spent addressing the five remaining misdemeanors, and the sentences for these cases will be served concurrently to the felony counts.
As the accused was remanded, Judge Young’s final words were, “You’re a young man… you could fix some of these things and I sincerely hope that you do if you want to live a life out of custody.”
