Fifth Strike Gets Robber 336 to Life
A Santa Ana man convicted of taking hostages during a 1998 robbery was sentenced Friday to 336 years to life in prison under the state’s three-strikes law, the district attorney’s office said.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald sentenced Edward Carmona, 35, to the lengthy term, saying he was “a poster child for the three-strikes law,” prosecutors said.
According to authorities, Carmona entered a Westminster convenience store on April 11, 1998, and took $1,500 at gunpoint. An employee called police, but after pointing the gun at officers and using the shop owner as a shield, Carmona escaped to a neighboring house.
He then held four family members in the house as hostages for three hours before surrendering to police, prosecutors charged.
Carmona was convicted March 8 on multiple counts including robbery, burglary and taking hostages. He had four prior strikes from a 1993 armed robbery and assault.
Using the tough sentencing guidelines, Fitzgerald gave Carmona consecutive terms.
Since voters and the Legislature approved the controversial law in 1994, more than 50,000 felons have been sent to prison under the law, many with lengthy terms that are tantamount to life sentences.
In April, Efren Alex Garcia, 23, of Anaheim, was sentenced to 475 years to life on 13 counts stemming from an armed robbery.
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