Local News in Brief : Accessory in Shooting Death at Teen Club Sentenced to 2 Years

A 21-year-old Canoga Park man was sentenced Friday to two years in state prison in connection with the Aug. 17 shooting death of a youth at a Van Nuys teen club.

Phuong (Tony) Nguyen pleaded guilty Jan. 24 in Van Nuys Superior Court to acting as an accessory to an assault with a deadly weapon and being an ex-convict in possession of a handgun.

His defense attorney, Herbert Weiss, said Nguyen pleaded guilty to the accessory charge with the understanding that he was not admitting responsibility. Nguyen believed he was likely to be found guilty in a trial, Weiss said.

Nguyen was accused of helping Christopher D. Comete, 16, escape from the Hot Trax club after Comete shot Mark Miller, 15, of Hollywood.

Comete, tried as a juvenile, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced in January to the California Youth Authority, where he can be held only until his 25th birthday.

Comete told a probation officer that Nguyen gave him the gun used in the attack on Miller.

Miller’s mother, father and grandmother Friday urged Judge James A. Albracht to sentence Nguyen to the maximum of three years and eight months in prison.

But Albracht said evidence presented during the preliminary hearing showed that Miller was looking for a fight when he went to the club and could not be considered a completely innocent victim.

With credit for time served, Nguyen will be eligible for parole in about a year.