Mechanic Sentenced in Ambush

A 24-year-old Northridge mechanic was sentenced Tuesday in Van Nuys Superior Court to 17 years and 8 months to life in state prison for the 1983 kidnaping and murder of a purported Pacoima cocaine dealer.

John R. Sires pleaded guilty in April to kidnaping and second-degree murder for his part in the death of 36-year-old Gustavo Rojas on May 13, 1983. Sires and two other men, former Van Nuys airport security guard Terry W. Nelson and Mission Hills house painter Clark Lange, were accused of setting up Rojas for robbery by asking him to deliver drugs to a party.

According to court records, the men ambushed Rojas by forcing his car off the street after he left the party in Reseda. When residents of the area investigated the commotion, Sires and Nelson showed them phony police badges and forced Rojas into a stolen van.

Children on their way to school in Reseda discovered Rojas several hours later when they heard groans and saw blood coming from the parked van, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Baron, who prosecuted the case.

Rojas, who had been shot once in the head, died four days later.

Acting under the terms of a plea bargain, Judge Darlene Schempp imposed the maximum sentence on Sires. He will become eligible for parole in 8 years, 10 months, Baron said.

Nelson, 36, who prosecutors believe was the gunman, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced May 4 to 27 years to life. Lange, 22, pleaded guilty in September to robbery and kidnaping and was sentenced to six years, Baron said.