VENTURA : Drug Dealer Gets 16-Year Sentence

Two months after dismissing a murder charge against a drug dealer accused of killing a man during a $15 robbery, a Ventura County judge sentenced the defendant Tuesday to 16 years in prison for the holdup and other crimes.

Describing 35-year-old Everado Mondragon as “a significant danger to society,” Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell handed out the maximum sentence allowed.

Mondragon was convicted of the Feb. 20 Ventura robbery of Thomas Shoop, who died one day later. Mondragon was also convicted of seven unrelated counts, including assault and drug trafficking, Deputy Dist. Atty. Terence M. Kilbride said.

Shoop died Feb. 21, one day after he was beaten and robbed by Mondragon and a co-defendant, Jose Sanchez. Shoop immediately reported the holdup to police and identified the defendants as the men who stole his $15.

A murder charge was dismissed against the two defendants in October because Campbell said he could not be certain how the victim received his fatal injury.

Campbell had said he was convinced Shoop had been kicked during the robbery, but was not certain whether the assault or a bathroom fall several hours later had caused the victim’s spleen to rupture.

Tuesday, Campbell said Mondragon had shown no remorse for his actions. The judge had previously given Sanchez a five-year sentence for the robbery.