SAN FRANCISCO — The ex-Air Force sergeant who joined a violent anti-government movement was sentenced Friday to 41 years in prison for killing a federal security officer in an Oakland drive-by shooting after relatives grieved the loss of “someone we loved and cherished” at the hearing.
Steven Carrillo, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to the killing of Federal Protective Services Officer Patrick Underwood in the May 2020 attack. In agreeing to the plea deal, Carrillo had to confess to murdering Underwood, affiliating with anti-government groups, plotting attacks and promoting anti-police violence online. He was part of the so-called Boogaloo movement, a loosely organized far-right network in the U.S. whose adherents say they are preparing for an impending civil war.
On May 29, 2020, Carrillo opened fire on Underwood and his partner, who were working a night shift at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building while protests against the murder of George Floyd by police moved through downtown Oakland. The attack sparked a days-long manhunt; Carrillo was arrested about a week later after he allegedly ambushed and murdered Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller in the community of Ben Lomond. Three other officers were injured in that incident.
Authorities allege that in the Ben Lomond ambush, Carrillo lobbed pipe bombs and opened fire on the officers using the same gun he used to kill Underwood. He is still facing pending state murder charges in Gutzwiller’s death; if convicted in that case, he would have to serve the entirety of his sentence in state custody before being handed over to federal authorities to serve his sentence in a federal prison. State prosecutors said earlier this year that they were not ruling out seeking the death penalty in their case.
In a rare move for federal court, prosecutors and the defense already had agreed to the sentence Carrillo should face. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers expressed skepticism at a February hearing that 41 years was “sufficient” for Carrillo’s crimes and warned that it was not clear whether she would accept the recommendation at Friday’s hearing.
After tearful testimony by Underwood’s family, presentations from the prosecution and defense and remarks from the judge directed to Underwood’s family, Gonzalez Rogers accepted the deal and the agreed-to sentence.
“I felt like Carrillo came like a thief in the night and just stole someone from our family that we loved and cherished and we miss dearly,” said Underwood’s cousin, Tammy Evans.
The victim’s sister, Angela Underwood Jacobs, spoke of how she often thinks of how Patrick Underwood spent his last moments.
“I could only think of Pat laying on the cold hard cement, bleeding out from his neck and torso,” Underwood Jacobs said tearfully. “Did he know he was dying? Did he think of his mother, father, brother and sister? How did he feel as he took his last breaths? Was he content with a life well lived, or was he terrified?”
Turning her words to Carrillo directly, she continued: “Your wounds of dishonor are self-inflicted. You have failed at being human.”
The family’s pain was palpable in the courtroom as Underwood’s niece, Trinity Jacobs, described him as a “beacon of light” for his family and community.
Carrillo’s defense attorney, James Thomson, presented a list of details for the court to consider as “mitigating” factors in determining the sentencing: He had no criminal history, had agreed quickly to pleading guilty to his crimes and was being treated with psychotropic drugs prescribed by jail medical staff that, according to his attorney, are helping him in “the process to become the man he was before the unraveling began.” Carrillo did not have family in the courtroom during the hearing, according to his attorney.
At the time of both attacks, Carrillo was an Air Force staff sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield. He was assigned to an anti-terrorist squadron and was deployed overseas multiple times.
Carrillo’s “unraveling,” Thomson explained, came after the death of his wife by suicide, Carrillo’s own depression and attempts at suicide, and his foray into online extremist groups that influenced him.
“In May 2020, Mr. Carrillo reached a mental health crisis, following return from his last overseas mission,” Thomson said, describing him as “emotionally fraught” and “fragile.”
Thomson referenced a lawsuit filed by Angela Underwood Jacobs against Facebook, calling it “exactly right” in putting blame on the social media giant for recommending extremist content and connecting Carrillo to Robert Alvin Justus Jr., who traveled with him to Oakland to carry out the attack on Underwood. Justus, who prosecutors say was driving the van from which Carrillo shot at Underwood, is still facing charges of aiding and abetting murder and attempted murder; he has pleaded not guilty in that case.
One of the charges Carrillo pleaded guilty to — use of a firearm in furtherance of a violent offense that resulted in death — carries a potential life sentence but is a lesser offense than the first-degree murder count he originally faced. He also pleaded guilty to attempting to kill Underwood’s partner, who was injured in the attack.
Gonzalez Rogers spoke directly to Underwood’s family at length before she passed sentence.
“I believe there is evil in this world. … But from what I read and studied as I tried to make and find logic in the illogical, as I have looked for answers, as you are frustrated and angry that such a tragedy could happen, what I can tell you is that I do not see evil in Mr. Carrillo.
“I know (the plea agreement) won’t make you happy, but I need you to trust me. I would not accept it if I saw no measure of redemption.”
She wondered aloud whether Carrillo, who will be in his late 60s in 41 years, would even survive the harsh conditions of prison in his older age. Though she did not directly address it, his pending state charges could keep him behind bars for a lifetime.
“There is mental illness. It was the perfect storm — too many things happened all at once. And the result of that is that a loved one has died,” she continued, speaking of Carrillo’s past. “For that — for that error in judgment, for that error due to what was happening mentally — he will spend virtually the rest of his life in prison in a cell that is typically no bigger than 10′ by 6′ — not even bigger than that jury box.”
Staff writer Nate Gartrell contributed reporting.
Source: www.mercurynews.com