Plea deals for 5 accused in Modesto gangland murder

Five defendants expected to stand trial later this month charged with murder in a gang-related attack in north Modesto have agreed to a plea deals.

Nancy Rodriguez, Jeanette Robles, Lisandro Mendoza, Jesse James Sebourn and his father, Michael Terrill Sebourn, have been convicted in the deadly attack on Erick Gomez. The prosecution says Gomez, 20, was targeted by vengeful Sureño gang members hunting down rival Norteño gang members Feb. 14, 2013.

The defendants all pleaded no contest to their charges and are scheduled to be formally sentenced June 13, when Gomez’s family will have an opportunity to speak in court about the impact of his death.

Rodriguez, Robles and Jesse Sebourn were each convicted of voluntary manslaughter along with an enhancement for committing the crime for the benefit of the Sureño gang, according to Deputy District Attorney Jeff Laugero. They each will be formally sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Michael Sebourn was convicted of second-degree murder, and he admitted to being armed with a deadly weapon during the attack, the prosecutor said. He will be formally sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.

Mendoza was convicted of voluntary manslaughter along with the gang enhancement, Laugero said. He will be formally sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Four other people were indicted in connection with Gomez’s death: Dalia Mendoza, Giovani Barocio, Elida Carranza and Jenna Sebourn.

Dalia Mendoza was prosecuted separately after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for her testimony against her co-defendants. Barocio, suspected of having been the gunman in the attack, remains a fugitive.

In December, Carranza and Jenna Sebourn pleaded no contest to being an accessory to murder and admitted to an enhancement of committing the crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to a five-year sentence for each defendant. They were released for jail time already served.

Hung jury

The first trial in the Gomez case, which went on for about three months, ended Jan. 28, 2015, when the jury failed to reach a verdict. Jury selection for the second trial had already begun and was expected to done by June 21.

The defense has argued that Gomez was shot by a gunman who remains a fugitive and stabbed by a co-defendant who became a key prosecution witness, so their clients should not be held responsible for his death. Defense attorneys pointed to Barocio and Dalia Mendoza as the primary aggressors who caused Gomez’s death.

Deputy District Attorney Tom Brennan, the prosecutor in the first trial, has argued the attack on Gomez was a primary example of ongoing warfare between Sureño and Norteño gangs on the streets of Modesto. Brennan has said a group of Sureños, seeking vengeance for an earlier beat-down on Jesse Sebourn that day, went out hunting for any Norteños they could find.

The group found Gomez walking with his girlfriend along Vera Cruz Drive in a neighborhood east of Coffee Road claimed as Norteño turf. Gomez was a Norteño gang member, but there was no indication he was involved in the earlier assault on Sureños.

Brennan told the jury in the first trial that multiple people stabbed Gomez, who also was shot to death.

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Plea deals for 5 accused in Modesto gangland murder."