Maas Pleads Guilty in Racial Attack Outside Store

Michael Maas, the man accused of waging a racial hate campaign against a black couple in Normal Heights, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of attempted murder in connection with an unrelated racial incident outside a convenience store.

In a plea bargain, Maas and prosecutors agreed that he would receive a maximum prison term of eight years for attacking a black man with a machete outside the store in April, 1985, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Lori Koster. Maas could have received a 10-year sentence.

The eight years are to be served consecutively with the three years in state prison Maas is already serving for breaking the arms of his then-girlfriend, Deana Tolentino, with a spiked baseball bat in May, 1985.

Maas’ attorney, Mario Conte, could not be reached for comment on the plea bargain, which was reached late in the afternoon before San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard D. Huffman.

Maas, 28, is now on trial in federal court, where he is charged in a 10-count federal indictment with violating the civil rights of George and Michelle Shelton by placing a burning cross on their front lawn, sending them a racial hate letter and setting their truck on fire. The incidents occurred shortly after the couple purchased their home in October, 1984, and eventually caused them to move from the neighborhood the following year, the couple testified in federal court.

Maas is also accused of beating and threatening Tolentino and encouraging her to lie before a federal grand jury about the racial incidents, including the attack outside the store.

Although plea negotiations are also under way on the federal charges, both Conte and U.S. Atty. Lynne Lasry, who is prosecuting the federal case, have declined to discuss the talks. Lasry, reached late Friday afternoon, also declined to comment on whether Friday’s plea bargain in Superior Court was part of the negotiations.

The incident outside the store on Adams Avenue occurred April 28, 1985, after Tolentino had gone to the store to buy cigarettes and aspirin for Maas. While inside the store, Tolentino has testified in federal court, five black men began talking to her, saying things like “Hey, baby,” and “Let’s go party.”

Tolentino testified that, once she returned home and told Maas what the men had said, he armed himself with a machete and handgun. Maas then told her to go back to the store with him and lure the men outside before she left, according to Tolentino.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Koster said only one man went outside, and although Maas used the machete during the attack, the victim, whose name she refused to release, was not injured. Maas, however, sustained a broken shoulder.