Burglaries for Guns Bring 3-Year Sentence
A San Fernando man who pleaded guilty last month to stealing handguns from a sporting goods store was sentenced in San Fernando Superior Court Monday to three years in state prison.
Albert D. Medina, 22, was arrested on March 24 as he tried to escape through a hole in the roof of San Fernando Sporting Goods after a one-hour standoff with a Sheriff’s Department special weapons team.
Prosecutors filed four commercial burglary charges alleging that Medina had broken into the store four times between Jan. 4 and March 24, resulting in the loss of 80 handguns and 16 boxes of ammunition.
Two of the four charges were dropped after Medina accepted a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to the two latest burglaries, said Kenneth Barshop, deputy district attorney. Medina will be eligible for parole in 18 months, he said.
During his sentencing, Medina denied news reports that he had agreed to cooperate with police investigators attempting to stem gang violence in the San Fernando Valley.
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