| For Immediate Release September 21, 2006 |
Contact: | Susan Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel (714) 347-8408 Office (714) 292-2718 Cell |
CYPRESS GANG MEMBER TO BE SENTENCED FOR MURDERING MAN IN 1998 AND FLEEING TO NEW MEXICO
*His parents were convicted of harboring, concealing, and aiding a fugitive
SANTA ANA – A Cypress gang member will be sentenced tomorrow for shooting and murdering a man in Los Alamitos in 1998. Pedro Jesse Sanchez, 24, was convicted on June 23, 2006, of murder and street terrorism with an enhancement for criminal street gang activity. He faces a maximum of life in prison. The People are requesting his sentence be served consecutive to a 23 year sentence Sanchez received for a 2001 New Mexico murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow, September 22, 2006, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-44, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Sanchez, a member of a Hispanic criminal street gang, had an ongoing rivalry with a white supremacist, Chad Huber. On October 6, 1998, Sanchez was at a gas station with his friends and noticed Huber driving past them. Sanchez and his friends got into their car and followed Huber to another nearby gas station. Sanchez and Huber both got out of their cars and began to approach each other. Huber raised his fist in a Nazi-style salute and Sanchez pulled out a gun and shot him. Huber tried to turn and get back to his vehicle, but Sanchez shot him again, killing him in the street.
Sanchez fled to New Mexico to avoid prosecution in the Huber murder. His parents helped him to remain a fugitive by sending him money and hiding his whereabouts from authorities. On May 9, 2003, Sanchez’s parents, Pedro Sanchez, 43, and Sandra Sanchez, 41, were convicted of being an accessory after the fact with knowledge of the crime, with an enhancement for committing their crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang. Pedro Sanchez was sentenced to 270 days in jail, and both received three years probation.
In 2001, Sanchez committed a murder in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison for that case. He was then returned to Orange County and convicted for murdering Chad Huber.
Deputy District Attorney Colleen Crommett of the Gang Unit is prosecuting this case.
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