| For Immediate Release Case # 11CF0465 September 27, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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GANG MEMBER CONVICTED OF SHOOTING-MURDER OF INNOCENT RESTAURANT PATRON IN SANTA ANA
SANTA ANA – A gang member was convicted today of the unprovoked shooting-murder of an innocent man outside of a restaurant in Santa Ana. Ivan Sanchez, 23, Santa Ana, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death. He faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison at his sentencing Dec. 7, 2012, at 9:00 a.m., in Department C-40, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Co-defendant Ricardo Guerra Rocha, 19, Santa Ana, was 17 years old at the time of the crime and charged as an adult. He was found guilty by a jury June 27, 2012, of one felony count of murder, one felony count of street terrorism, and sentencing enhancements for the vicarious discharge of a firearm causing death by a gang member and criminal street gang activity (Case #11CF0470). Ricardo Rocha was sentenced Sept. 7, 2012, to 40 years to life in state prison.
Ricardo Rocha’s sister Maria Isabel Rocha, 30, Santa Ana, is charged (Case #11CF0494) with one felony count of murder with sentencing enhancements for the vicarious discharge of a firearm causing death by a gang member and criminal street gang activity. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison. Maria Rocha is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Sept. 28, 2012, in Department C-5, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
The following information was presented during the jury trials against Ricardo Rocha and Sanchez. Maria Rocha is accused of:
On the night of Feb. 13, 2011, Sanchez, Rocha, and Rocha, got into an argument with an unknown group of people at Mariscos La Ola restaurant in Santa Ana over which state in Mexico was better. The three defendants left the restaurant, drove to get a firearm, and returned to the parking lot several minutes later.
When the defendants arrived back at the restaurant, 35-year-old Esteban Navarrete was leaving and getting into his car with his wife and friend. He did not know the defendants. Maria Rocha waited in the car as the get-away driver while gang members Sanchez and Ricardo got out of the car and approached the victims’ vehicle. Navarrete, who is not associated with any criminal street gang, got out of his vehicle to explain that he and his passengers were not involved in the earlier argument. Sanchez murdered Navarrete by shooting him one time in the head. He fired several more shots, but the other victims were not hit.
The Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) investigated this case. On Feb. 17, 2011, Sanchez was arrested after SAPD performed a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by now-22-year-old Manuel Toscano. Toscano attempted to drive Sanchez to Mexico to escape arrest and avoid punishment.