Dodger Stadium attacker pleads guilty to federal weapons charge

One of two men who admitted to brutally beating a San Francisco Giants fan at a 2011 Dodgers game pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal weapons charge.

Marvin Norwood, 34, was previously sentenced to four years in state prison after pleading guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court to assault causing great bodily injury for the unprovoked attack on Bryan Stow. Stow suffered serious brain damage and remains severely impaired.

Louie Sanchez, 32, who also admitted to assaulting Stow and is serving an eight-year prison sentence, is scheduled to appear at a change of plea hearing next week on the federal weapons charge.

A federal grand jury indicted Norwood and Sanchez last March, shortly after their guilty pleas in state court, on one count each of being a felon in possession of firearms.

While executing a search warrant on Norwood’s home during the assault investigation, police found a cache of weapons and ammunition in the attic crawl space above the garage, according to an affidavit filed in the case. The cache included a 12-gauge shotgun, two semi-automatic rifles, a pistol and a revolver.

Prosecutors said the two men face up to 10 years in prison for the weapons offense.

A judge previously rejected a motion filed by Norwood’s attorney arguing that the search of the home was improper and that the seized weapons should be suppressed as evidence. Norwood is entering a guilty plea while reserving his right to appeal the ruling on that motion, according to court papers.

Norwood told detectives that the weapons belonged to Sanchez, who stored them at his home because he didn’t have a place to keep them.

“They got the guns. There … ain’t no getting around that,” Norwood told Sanchez in a secretly recorded conversation after their arrest, according to the affidavit.

“I’m just gonna tell them they’re mine … Marv, I’m sorry, man,” Sanchez replied.

Authorities said they concluded the weapons were possessed by and available to both men. Each had prior felony records: Sanchez for evading an officer and Norwood for domestic violence.

Norwood is scheduled to be sentenced on the federal charge May 7.

For news on Los Angeles County’s federal courts, follow @vicjkim.