Gambler’s Killer Gets 23 Years-to-Life Term
A North Hollywood man was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison Thursday for shooting to death a Canoga Park man after robbing him of his winnings from a card game.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James A. Coleman sentenced Manuel Castellano for shooting Enrique Mendoza, 32, on March 31, 1987.
Castellano, a native of El Salvador, was convicted in April of first-degree murder in Mendoza’s death.
The shooting occurred after Mendoza won an undisclosed sum of money during an illegal gambling game in a garage in the 7300 block of Tampa Avenue, said Deputy Public Defender Daniel A. Kuperberg, Castellano’s attorney.
After offering Mendoza a ride home, Castellano drove him to the parking lot of the Loehmann’s Plaza shopping center at Victory Boulevard and Tampa Avenue and shot him, prosecutors said.
The driver of a delivery truck found Mendoza’s body the next morning.
Kuperberg contended that the key witness against Castellano, Bonerge Maldonado, shot Castellano.
Maldonado, who was present at the card game and shooting, was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony.
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