Pacoima Gang Member Gets 5 Years

A 22-year-old Pacoima street gang member with a string of drug-related misdemeanor convictions has been sentenced to five years and three months in County Jail, Los Angeles City Attorney James K. Hahn announced Wednesday.

Jimmy Jess Real, who never spent more than 60 days in jail on seven drug convictions and one for petty theft, was sentenced after San Fernando Municipal Judge Michael S. Luros found him guilty of violating his probation. None of Real’s convictions are for the sale of drugs.

“That’s a pretty stiff sentence for a misdemeanor case,” said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney.

The city attorney’s gang unit filed probation-violation charges against Real after he was arrested Oct. 18 and Oct. 24 for possession and being under the influence of PCP, both times near LeHigh Avenue and Carl Street, an area known to be heavy with gang activity, Hahn said.

“He has had more than enough chances to get out of his gangland life style,” Hahn said in a prepared statement. “The only thing we could do with him was get him off the streets for as long as possible, and that is what we have done.”