#plea-deals

#plea-deals

Any Gutierrez-Rebollo, 27, of Oakland, took the most legal responsibility for the Oct. 8, 2022 killing of 29-year-old religious student Isamaeli Eli Mata'afa, pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter with the expectation to be sentenced to 14 years on Feb. 5. Co-defendant Michael Monrroy-Ramos, 26, of Union City, pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon for an eight-year prison term, also scheduled to be handed down on Feb. 5, records show.

Alameda County prosecutors have struck plea deals with two alleged robbers, both of whom were accused of luring their victims into a false sense of security with the help of a suspected prostitute. In one case, Nicholas Lewis, 31, was sentenced to nine days he already served in jail plus probation after pleading no contest to grand theft. In another, Luis Silva, 24, also pleaded no contest to grand theft for a two-year probation term, court records show.

Matthew John, 21, had been charged with fatally shooting 22-year-old Joshua Hopkins on Feb. 22, 2023, as the two argued on the 2200 block of Seminary Avenue. In September, prosecutors dropped the murder case, but John isn't completely out of hot water - he pleaded no contest to robbing a Berkeley jewelry store with two others in a $98,000 takeover heist, and will serve three years in state prison, court records show.

But during his June sentencing hearing, Judge Kimberly Colwell called a private sidebar with the prosecuting and defense attorneys, then returned to the bench and announced the deal wouldn't be going through. I cannot agree to this because I don't believe it protects the public safety, Colwell said, according to a transcript of the hearing.