Oxnard Man, 21, Sentenced to Prison in Landlord’s Slaying

A 21-year-old Oxnard man was sentenced to 16 years to life in state prison for his role in an attempted robbery that turned deadly for a Port Hueneme landlord.

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David Lee Soto, who pleaded guilty earlier to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against three other defendants in the Ventura County Superior Court case, received 15 years to life for the murder plea, plus an additional year for using a firearm during the commission of a crime.

He admitted his part in the attempted robbery of Richard Schell, a 55-year-old Santa Barbara man who was killed Dec. 1, 1992, as the four men tried to take rent money that Schell was collecting from tenants in Port Hueneme.

Gilbert Martinez, Jose Arreguin and George Pena also were convicted in the case. But Martinez, the 16-year-old who prosecutors believe fired the shot that killed Schell, was acquitted of murder and found guilty of the lesser charge of attempted robbery.

Nonetheless, Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn said Soto’s plea and subsequent testimony helped prosecutors win the convictions.

“He did not have a lot of credibility” on the witness stand, Glynn said. But “I needed him to fill in the blank spaces, so it was a necessary plea agreement.”

Glynn dropped a charge of attempted burglary after the sentencing.

Under state guidelines, Soto could have received no less than 15 years to life in prison.

Pena and Arreguin were convicted of first-degree murder. Pena was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, and Arreguin to live in prison without possibility of parole.