Crime & Safety

2 Gang Members Plead No Contest In 2016 Santa Rosa Shooting: DA

Plea agreements were reached Monday, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office

SANTA ROSA, CA — Two gang members pleaded no contest Monday to charges of attempted murder for a 2016 shooting, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office. Salvador Flores Jr., 19, of Santa Rosa, and Gustavo Alex Castillo, 25, of Santa Rosa, entered the pleas and also admitted to each using a
firearm during the crime on Aug. 28, 2016, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Flores and Castillo knew the victim, who cooperated with law enforcement in a prior gang-related stabbing. The victim's cooperation got one of their fellow gang members a prison sentence. Prosecutors didn't release details of that case.

Flores, Castillo and another gang member saw the victim in a parked car, and that's when the pair approached him and fired five shots from a .357-caliber revolver, striking the victim twice, prosecutors said.

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The pair drove away from the scene but Santa Rosa police detained them a short time later.

Castillo, who was on parole at the time of the shooting, will receive a 21-year and 4-month term and Flores will get a 15 years-to-life sentence, with three years added for discharging a firearm during the crime.

Find out what's happening in Sonoma Valleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

By Bay City News Service

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