Local News in Brief : Accessory to Teen-Club Slaying Pleads Guilty
A 21-year-old Canoga Park man pleaded guilty Friday to acting as an accessory to an assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the Aug. 17 shooting death of a youth at a Van Nuys teen club.
Phuong (Tony) Nguyen, who was on parole at the time of the incident, also pleaded guilty to being an ex-convict in possession of a handgun. Nguyen had been paroled after serving time in state prison for possessing fraudulent checks, according to his attorney, Herbert Weiss.
Nguyen allegedly helped Christopher D. Comete, 16, flee from the Hot Trax club after Comete shot Mark Miller, 15, of Hollywood, after an argument.
Weiss said Nguyen entered the guilty pleas with the understanding that he was not admitting responsibility but believed he was likely to be found guilty in a trial.
In an agreement with prosecutors, Nguyen faces a maximum of two years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 21 by Judge James Albracht of Van Nuys Superior Court.
The district attorney’s office had recently filed two more charges against Nguyen--being an accessory to murder and conspiring to murder--but Albracht granted a defense motion Friday to dismiss those for lack of evidence.
Comete, who was tried as a juvenile, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced Jan. 10 to the California Youth Authority.
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