4 gangsters get long prison terms for '11 murder
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Four reputed gang members were sentenced Thursday for killing a teenager in April 2011.
Emmanuel Toscano, Hilario Aguero, Fernando Garcia-Santos and Gabriel Gonzales were convicted by a Kern County jury last month. Their sentences vary slightly, but they each received at least 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A fifth defendant, Cristian Albarran, previously pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree robbery, but he goes back to court Sept. 14 for a hearing on a motion to withdraw that plea.
The victim, 16-year-old Gerardo Villapudua, had left a quinceanera at Santiago's Restaurant on South H Street with three friends when the assailants followed them to a secluded area of an adjacent church parking lot, prosecutors said.
The alleged gangsters repeatedly challenged the victim and his friends to fight, but the boy and his friends refused. Gonzales took the victim's cellphone and hat, but Villapudua continued to resist a fight.
Toscano shot Villapudua in the back with a 9 mm gun while Villapudua was seated in a car attempting to get away, the District Attorney's office said last month.
The shooting was supposed to be retaliation for a gang shooting a week earlier, but prosecutors said Villapudua was not affiliated with a gang.
Toscano, Aguero, Garcia-Santos and Gonzales are alleged members of the Loma Bakers criminal street gang.
Prison is where they belong! Those cowards belong in a cage. That way they wonât feel threatened and shoot someone else in the back.
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Yeah, I feel somewhat sorry for them, too. I guessing, but I think they all came from broken homes. Raised by their mamas. They probably donât know who their father are. They were brought into this world for the welfare system. They were brought up to believe Uncle Sugar will provide for them.  All they need do is find a willing (female dog) and do what their mothers did. Uncle, then, picks up the bills and the room and board tab.
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All is not gloom, though. They get to spend 25-years in prison and party 24/7 and have all the near-beer they can consume. They will get passed around cell to cell like a box of Girl Scout cookies. The downside is if they are ever released someday, they will be wearing adult diapers because they canât control their âbusinessâ. Thatâs good for us. That should keep them off the streets looking for MORE victims. So it all works for the best. Bon Voyage, Dawgs. Hasta la Bagel, Pendejos.
Although nothing will ever bring Gerardo back I pray the sentencing of these young men brings some peace and closure to the family and friends of Gerardo. It is so sad that the young men chose to enter into the gang life. Now these very young men will have to spend many long years confined.