Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 08/31/05

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Larry Scoufos Assigned Prosecutor: Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

GANG MEMBERS CONVICTED OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that a Sonoma County jury convicted four gang members of first degree murder in the killing of Ignacio Medina Gomez. The murder occurred on June 27, 2002, along the Santa Rosa Creek near Stony Point Road in Santa Rosa. The trial began in January of this year before Superior Court Judge Raima Ballinger.

The defendants convicted of murder include Pete James Amante, Patrick George Higuera Jr., Rogelio Javier Cardenas, and Rico Ricardo Lopez. A gang special circumstance and a separate gang allegation were also found to be true as to each of the four defendants. Three of the four defendants, Amante, Higuera, and Lopez, will receive mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The fourth defendant, Cardenas, will be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, unless the judge determines it should be thirty-five-years-to-life because he was a minor at the time of the murder.

The jury also convicted a fifth defendant, Mario Ochoa-Gonzalez, of felony Accessory to Murder, and also found the gang allegation as to him to be true. Ochoa-Gonzalez may be sentenced to a maximum term of seven years in state prison.

The jury deliberated for just over four days prior to reaching their verdicts. Each juror individually confirmed their guilty verdicts in open court. Based upon the conviction as an Accessory to Murder and the gang allegation, Judge Ballinger set bail for Ochoa-Gonzalez at fifty-thousand dollars, and will re-consider bail on September 2 at 1:30 p.m. The other four defendants remain in custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled to occur at 9:00 a.m. on October 7th (Higuera), 12th (Cardenas), 19th (Lopez), and 21st (Amante).

District Attorney Passalacqua stated, "We will continue to use all resources available to make sure that gang members who roam the streets of our community and commit acts of violence will be held responsible for their acts."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady was the assigned prosecutor on the case. He was assisted by District Attorney Investigator Les Vanderpool, District Attorney Legal Assistant Dava Kohlman, Information Specialist John Magsamen, and Legal Secretary Elaine Nickison.