Norteno gang member Marcos Vasquez returns to state prison for 72 months

Despite his defense counsel's pleas for leniency, defendant Marcos Abel Vasquez, age 25, of Ukiah, today had his ticket punched -- again -- for a 72-month return trip to state prison.



In March of this year, the defendant and four other Norteno gang members, ranging in age from 16 to 19, made a nighttime incursion into what they believed was the rival gang's turf in Ukiah. Under the cover of darkness, defendant Vasquez used a baseball bat to break out all the windows and do body damage to an automobile sitting in front of a Ukiah residence.

Fortunately, a neighbor witnessed the event from the shadows and notified the police. The defendant, the 16-year old get-away driver, and the other three gang members were soon located and identified. The bat -- with window glass still embedded in its barrel -- was recovered from the get-away car and seized as evidence.

Defendant Vasquez was convicted by plea of felony vandalism. He also admitted having suffered a prior Strike conviction, having served a prior prison commitment, and having used a weapon in the course of the vandalism.

Because he admitted in the most recent case having suffered in 2013 the prior Strike conviction, the credits the defendant may attempt to earn in state prison against his overall sentence will be limited to no more than 20% of the six year term.

Regarding the prior 2013 Strike conviction, the defendant was sent to state prison in 2013 for 48 months for his first time for a violent gang-related conviction. He was back then involved in the stabbing of a rival gang member and convicted of assault by force likely to create great bodily injury, a felony. He also admitted in that 2013 case that he  committed the felony assault for the benefit of a criminal street gang.

The attorney who prosecuted this matter on behalf of the People is District Attorney David Eyster. The investigating law enforcement agency was the Ukiah Police Department.

The judge who has been presiding over court proceedings involving this defendant and who imposed today's state prison sentence was Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke.