Three in Whitethorn case get probation
by Kara D. Machado, 9/14/2006
Despite the negative statements by Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Schwartz that a probation official was inept in her recommendations for the four Whitethorn kidnapping/rape defendants, three of the men were sentenced Wednesday to three years of formal, supervised probation.
The other will await his fate in custody as a judge determines the details of his plea agreement with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office.
“I’m sorely upset about the probation report,” Schwartz said to Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Christopher Wilson. “It’s really, really an almost unprofessional probation report.”
Nate Robin Garza, 21, Deshawn Lee Moore, 32, and Gregory Donald Scheider, 31, were the three to receive probation. Levi Garza, 21, is scheduled to return to court, after Wilson reads July plea transcripts, on Sept. 27 at 2 p.m.
The four men were initially accused of kidnapping and raping a woman in Whitethorn in March after a debt to Levi Garza was not paid.
According to past testimony, the woman claimed she was kidnapped for two days and tied to a tree in Whitethorn for 24 hours.
Each of the defendants had many of the charges against them dropped as part of a deal with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office.
The men have been in jail since their March 16 arrest.
Nate Garza, Moore and Scheider later accepted a plea agreement of false imprisonment, with Levi Garza additionally pleading guilty to kidnapping and marijuana trafficking.
The Garzas, who are twins, were led into Wilson’s courtroom Wednesday handcuffed together. Behind them, also handcuffed together, were Scheider and Moore.
All wore orange jail-issued jumpsuits, with white long-sleeved shirts underneath. The Garzas and the other men sat, separated by a row of seats, in the courtroom jury box.
The courtroom was filled with supporters of the foursome.
Levi Garza’s attorney, Kenneth Bareilles, told a passionate story to Wilson about how he believed his client deserved a second chance at life, that he’s been honest about his crimes — even saying he wished he hadn’t gotten the other three defendants involved — and that Garza is “a product of Southern Humboldt County.”
“He wants a stepping stone to start a whole new life,” Bareilles said. He wants to be a good parent (to his infant daughter, born while he was in jail) — he didn’t have a lot of role models.
“He has a job waiting for him. He just wants to go to work like a regular person and come home to his wife and child. He’s guilty of what he pleaded to and he knows he needs to be punished.”
Bareilles described Garza as a young man with a troubled background who needs counseling to overcome that and the deaths of a brother (“killed in an accident”) and a sister (“by her own hands”).
Schwartz had no sympathy, characterizing Garza as having no remorse for what he did to the victim and said he “has been a thug — or at least thinks he’s a gangster — in Southern Humboldt County for (years) and he thinks he’s a big marijuana dealer.”
If Garza does not get formal, supervised parole, Wilson estimated a maximum penalty of five years and eight months in prison.
Of the statements the four men made in court, both Garzas’ being brief, Wilson was angered by Moore’s.
“Your honor, I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Moore said. “I didn’t even know the (victim or what was really going on).
“I was just dumbfounded at the time and still dumbfounded.”
Wilson said, “I’m dumbfounded by your comment.” “There is no possible way you could not know what was going on ... that’s ridiculous.”
Because of Moore’s statement, Wilson said, Moore was sentenced to 60 days in the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for revocation of probation on a separate charge. Moore was also ordered to attend a domestic violence program and to return to court on Oct. 27 at 2:30 p.m. with proof of attendance.
If Nate, Moore and Scheider violate their probation, all three men will all face a two-year prison term, with Scheider facing an additional eight months for possession of methamphetamine.
Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.
Update:
Sentencing continued in statutory rape trial 5/21/2007
1 comment:
4 years ago, Levi and Nate tried to kill their grandparents with a hatchet. They both got felony probation.
Either last year or the year before during the holidays, they were both involved in a home-invasion beating in Fortuna. The case was dropped.
There is a pattern of violence with these two, and it will only get worse. I cannot believe that Nate only received felony probation for this, and Levi received 8 years. I wonder what will happen in the future? He'll be out in 4 years with good behaviour.
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