SANTA CRUZ — A former San Jose man was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison Thursday for his role in several Santa Cruz shootings.
Michael Day, 22, pleaded no contest in November as part of a plea deal that led to him testifying earlier this year during his friend’s attempted murder trial. As part of his testimony, Day detailed how he and former codefendant Enrique Rocha had grown up together and been associated with the same Santa Cruz gang. The shootings, he said, were part of the “work” the two put in, in order to defend their territory against rival gang members.
Day had pleaded to charges of attempted murder, unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior juvenile conviction, assault with a firearm and participation in criminal gang activity, all felonies. Judge Paul Burdick handed down the negotiated sentence, which totaled 15 years, four months, minus more than four years of jail credit time.
Rocha, in the wake of his January jury trial, was found guilty of 20 felony charges and a spate of criminal enhancements related to the three shootings around Santa Cruz in the summer of 2019. He was sentenced to 35 years, 8 months to life in prison on March 10, with a time-served credit of nearly four years, seven months.
Source: www.mercurynews.com