Plea Deal Frees Man in Teen Wrestler’s Killing

A man who pleaded guilty to covering up the killing of a popular high school wrestler was released Monday evening from Orange County Jail as part of the plea agreement with prosecutors.

Albert Thomas Medina III, 21, of Santa Ana admits lying to police in initial interviews following Diego Armando Gonzalez-Sanchez’s slaying in November, said his attorney, Frank J. Coughlin.

Gonzalez-Sanchez, 17, a student at El Modena High School in Orange and co-captain of the wrestling team, was shot twice in the head and then set ablaze in what authorities said was an attempt to conceal his identity.

Medina will “cooperate completely and truthfully” if prosecutors ask him to testify against the other defendants, Coughlin said.

“He recognizes he made a mistake in not being entirely truthful with investigators,” Coughlin said. “He knows now that you don’t lie to the police to protect your friends.”

Brandan Dante Perry, 20, of Garden Grove and Veronica Paz, 21, of Orange are being held without bail on murder charges. Perry is accused of shooting Gonzalez-Sanchez while Paz stood by with a gun. Friends and law enforcement officials said Paz was dating Perry and Gonzalez-Sanchez. Prosecutors said Paz and Perry were lying in wait when they killed him.

A third defendant, Kimberly Rita Gomez, 20, has pleaded not guilty to giving police a false alibi for Perry and Paz and is free on bail.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Murray was not available for comment Monday regarding Medina’s plea deal. The agreement calls for Medina to serve a six-day jail term, completed Monday, and three years’ probation.

Medina, who played football at Santiago High School with Perry and had started working at Home Depot just before his arrest on suspicion of being an accessory to murder, sees his release as a chance to reform his life, Coughlin said.

“He knows this is a godsend, a second chance, and he plans to make the most of it,” the lawyer said. “He’s learned a valuable lesson.”

Medina told investigators that Perry had threatened his life if he talked about the killing, Coughlin said. “At some level, he is still concerned about retaliation,” Coughlin said. “But that’s secondary to the fact that Diego Gonzalez is dead. If the D.A. wants [Medina] to talk, he will.”