| For Immediate Release Case # 09WF0727 January 11, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MACHETE ATTACK IN CONSPIRACYTO MURDER CO-DEFENDANT’S HUSBAND
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced today to 25 years to life in state prison for conspiracy to commit murder and attacking his co-defendant’s husband with a machete. Antonio Cinco Ortega, 26, Santa Ana, was found guilty by a jury in a re-trial on Nov. 1, 2012, of one felony count of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one felony count of mayhem. The sentencing enhancements for great bodily injury and the personal use of a deadly weapon were found true.
Ortega’s friend, Michael Calvin Shores II, 42, Fountain Valley, and Shores’ lover Mary Katheryn Sharpski, 50, Fountain Valley, are both charged with one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, one felony count of mayhem, and a sentencing enhancement for great bodily injury. If convicted, they each face a maximum sentence of life in state prison. They are scheduled for a pre-trial trial setting conference April 12, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-30, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
At the time of the crime, Frank and Mary Sharpski were married with three children. Mary Sharpski is accused of having an affair with Shores, a tenant in her family’s home for several months. Mary Sharpski is accused of planning to murder her husband in order to live with Shores and her three children as a family.
Mary Sharpski and Shores are accused of meeting and conspiring with Ortega, a good friend of Shores. Mary Sharpski is accused of agreeing to pay Ortega to murder her husband and providing him with information on the victim’s daily route.
In the early morning of March 3, 2009, Ortega attacked Frank Sharpski in an alley outside of the victim’s home with a machete. Ortega fractured the victim’s skull, severed a thumb and fingers, partly severed his nose, caused several machete wounds, and left him to die.
When Fountain Valley Police Department (FVPD) officers responded at 5:50 a.m. to the scene, they found Frank Sharpski on the ground near the carports bleeding severely and semi-conscious. He was transported to the hospital, where he narrowly survived after undergoing several surgeries. FVPD investigated this case.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Lynda Fernandez prosecuted this case.