Pair Who Defaced Cell Sentenced for Assault

Two men who were ordered to repaint a San Fernando Superior Court jail cell after they defaced the walls with graffiti were sentenced Wednesday to three years in state prison on their convictions for assault with a deadly weapon.

Superior Court Judge John H. Major last week ordered Michael Munoz, 20, of North Hollywood and Paul Zamora, 22, of San Fernando to remove gang names from the cell in which they had stayed during their trial on the felony assault charges.

Zamora and Munoz were convicted on March 22 of using sharpened screwdrivers to threaten people in the parking lot of a San Fernando grocery last October.

Although both men deny any gang affiliation, a bailiff discovered that they had etched their gang nicknames and the name of their gang onto the cell’s walls one afternoon.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Vickye Mitchell said the pair would be eligible for parole in 18 months “if their behavior improves.”