OXNARD : Inmate Sentenced for Attempted Sodomy

A career criminal from Oxnard who tried to sodomize his cellmate at the Ventura County Jail was sentenced Wednesday to 36 years to life in state prison.

As the victim sat in court wearing dark glasses, Ventura Superior Court Judge Roland N. Purnell handed down the sentence to Roosevelt Carlton McCowan, who was convicted in April of attempted sodomy by force.

McCowan, 53, showed little emotion as the judge announced the sentence. He received 25 years to life under the state’s “three-strikes law,” designed to take career criminals off the streets. He received another 11 years as sentencing enhancements for having prior violent offenses.

The victim, a 32-year-old convicted petty thief from Piru, smiled as the sentence was meted out.

“I was kind of nervous at first, but as soon as I heard the sentence, I felt relief,” said the man, who had shared a cell with McCowan for three weeks before the attack.

The man said he had been placed in a section of the jail where he could work toward finishing his high school equivalency degree.

McCowan, accused of stealing 18 bottles of cologne, was placed in the same area--even though he faced a life sentence because he had two previous serious convictions.

The sodomy attempt occurred in July, two days after a jury convicted McCowan of stealing the cologne. McCowan will face another 25-year-to-life sentence when he is sentenced for that crime in two weeks, Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Connors said.