Last of San Dieguito Defendants Sentenced

A star football player at San Dieguito High School was sentenced Friday to serve up to eight months in a Probation Department camp for juvenile offenders--the toughest sentence meted out to any of the five juveniles who pleaded guilty in a series of North County beatings.

The 17-year-old senior was ordered by Judge William Pate to report Feb. 1 to the juvenile camp in Campo, as well as to pay $1,000 restitution to his victims and perform 200 hours of community service.

The youth had pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in a punching and kicking attack on a Leucadia man in his driveway.

In passing sentence, the judge also reviewed charges of witness intimidation and attacking a Palomar College student in a parking lot in La Costa. As part of a plea bargain, the charges were not pursued by prosecutors.

“I think this was a very appropriate sentence for a minor involved in senseless beatings on more than one occasion,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Amador, who handled the case in Juvenile Court.

‘This Is Not Justice’

But the youth’s mother said her son was being unfairly punished.

“He’s a good boy,” she said. “He’s learned from these things. I’m sorry he’s being singled out as more responsible than the others. It’s not fair; this is not justice.”

Pate said the youth’s conduct had seemed more calculated than the other defendants. He added that the San Dieguito community deserves to receive a message that the courts will not tolerate violence.

Four other juveniles have been sentenced to perform community service and pay restitution; none was sentenced to a juvenile camp. Two adults tried in Vista Municipal Court have been sentenced to 15 and 45 days in jail.

All of the defendants were current or former athletes at San Dieguito High in Encinitas.

Youth Will Get Counseling

The defendant, the last to be sentenced, had pleaded guilty to a more serious charge than the others. He was also the only one arrested for witness intimidation, a charge that later led school officials to ban him from the wrestling team.

At Rancho Del Campo, the youth will attend high school-level classes and receive counseling. He will be eligible to be released within five months, pending an evaluation by the Probation Department.

In his junior season, the brawny youth was a star linebacker and seemed destined for a college scholarship. After being arrested on the intimidation charge, he missed the final three games of his senior season.

His fellow players later named him “Mustang of the Year,” a show of support that dismayed school officials, who felt it indicated a lack of maturity.

In the wake of the beating cases, the San Dieguito school board has adopted a get-tough policy on off-campus conduct.