No-contest plea in Modesto shooting death of off-duty U.S. agent

A Hollister man on Tuesday pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for firing a gun and inadvertently shooting to death a fellow federal officer during a fight with two other men outside a north Modesto bar.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of murder against Robert Anthony Moreno in the 2012 shooting of his then co-worker, 34-year-old Daryl Chargualaf. Moreno and Chargualaf worked as Department of Defense police officers at a facility in Tracy.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Ricardo Córdova sentenced Moreno, 34, to 11 years in prison for the killing. The judge also told Moreno he can never own or possess a gun or ammunition for the rest of his life, which is a condition of his felony conviction.

Chargualaf’s family will have an opportunity to speak in court about the impact of his death at an Oct.11 hearing.

At that same hearing, the court will calculate how much more time Moreno will spend behind bars. Moreno has been held at the Stanislaus County Jail since Oct. 5, 2012. He will receive credit for time served, along with credit for good behavior while in custody. The judge told Moreno that his conviction will require him to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.

Córdova also told the defendant that his conviction is considered a strike under the state’s “three strikes” law. He warned Moreno that if he is convicted of another crime, his sentence could be doubled and he could be forced to serve 80 percent of that sentence.

Moreno’s plea of no contest means he will avoid a murder trial that was to start Oct. 11.

The off-duty federal officers were involved in a confrontation with brothers Billy and Andrew Diaz on July 22, 2012, outside O’Malley’s Bar in the parking lot of the shopping center at Standiford Avenue and Prescott Road. Testimony has indicated the dispute started inside the bar after Andrew Diaz bumped a table and all four men were kicked out.

Patrick Platts was the head bouncer at the bar that night. At a September 2013 preliminary hearing, Platts testified that Moreno came back inside the bar and identified himself again as an off-duty officer. Moreno told Platts he shot three people and to call for an ambulance.

“(Moreno) looked scared, like he realized he had just shot a couple of people,” Platts said on the witness stand in 2013.

Platts walked out and spotted Chargualaf, staggering before he collapsed. Platts went over and tried to stop the bleeding. He testified that Moreno stood over the bouncer, telling him, “You have to help him.”

At the 2013 hearing, John Garcia, Moreno’s attorney, suggested that the Diaz brothers followed the off-duty federal officers out of the bar with the intent of starting a fight.

Garcia also has questioned the Diaz brothers’ claim that nobody, not even Moreno and Chargualaf, said anything in the parking lot moments before the fight started. Garcia has argued that Moreno could have announced some commands before he opened fire.

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Laugero, who prosecuted the case, has argued that evidence and testimony clearly show that Moreno fired multiple times at close range, killing Chargualaf and seriously wounding Billy Diaz, who suffered a gunshot wound in his upper shoulder near his neck.

As part of Moreno’s plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop two counts each of attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic gun in connection with the confrontation with the Diaz brothers.

Judge Córdova has said in court that it’s clear Moreno did not intend to kill Chargualaf, his co-worker and one of his closest friends. The judge, however, determined that Moreno’s actions resulted in Chargualaf’s death.

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 12:47 PM with the headline "No-contest plea in Modesto shooting death of off-duty U.S. agent."