Samuel “Malo” Godinez, 37, was sentenced Jan. 12 to six years in prison for fatally shooting Christopher Gillette, 37, in a La Mesa residence last year after Godinez smoked methamphetamine.
A jury deadlocked 10-2 for acquittal on a murder charge, and Godinez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter rather than face retrial. He was given credits of eight months in jail since the May 16, 2015 shooting in the 8200 block of El Paso Street.
Samuel “Malo” Godinez, 37, was sentenced Jan. 12 to six years in prison for fatally shooting Christopher Gillette, 37, in a La Mesa residence last year after Godinez smoked methamphetamine.
A jury deadlocked 10-2 for acquittal on a murder charge, and Godinez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter rather than face retrial. He was given credits of eight months in jail since the May 16, 2015 shooting in the 8200 block of El Paso Street.
According to a witness, Gillette was trying to wake up someone around 5:15 a.m. and Godinez tried to stop him. Gillette commented he had been up for four days, and Godinez remarked “I have something for that” and pulled out a gun.
Gillette reportedly said “why don’t you tell me, not show me.” Godinez then fired two shots including one “right between the eyes” of Gillette, said Deputy District Attorney Clay Biddle. One shot went into a wall.
El Cajon Superior Court judge Daniel Lamborn ordered Godinez to pay the funeral expenses and assorted fines.
National Guardsmen plead guilty to illegally selling firearms
Two National Guard soldiers from East County pleaded guilty Jan. 14 to selling firearms to an undercover agent who reportedly told them the guns were headed for Mexico.
Andrew Reyes, 34, of La Mesa, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for selling firearms without a license, and transporting three rifles from Texas across state lines into California in 2014 and 2015. The maximum sentence is 20 years in federal prison.
Jaime Casillas, 22, of El Cajon, pleaded guilty to one count of selling firearms without a license. Casillas could face a maximum term of five years in prison.
Magistrate Judge Mitchell Dembin set sentencing for both on April 15. Reyes and Casillas are free on $30,000 and $10,000 bond respectively.
Both men worked in the Army National Guard Armory in El Cajon. The case could end their military careers. The defendants sold the weapons at least once while working U.S. Army uniforms.
“These National Guard soldiers have admitted to selling assault rifles and other firearms to a man they believed to be a Mexican cartel member,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy afterwards.
“Sadly, our nation has been frequently reminded that assault weapons possessed by the wrong people are a huge threat to public safety,” said Duffy in a news release.
Two men to stand trial in Lakeside murder
A judge Jan. 13 ordered two men to stand trial for the 2008 murder of Randy Vogler, a Lakeside man who was shot to death after working at a carnival.
The preliminary hearing of Destin Withers, 39, and Brian Baldino, 31, ended after starting Dec. 7 before El Cajon Superior Court Judge Lantz Lewis. The case had a long recess over the holidays.
Vogler, 28, worked for a carnival that was put on by The Family Show and was shot in the 12200 block of Woodside Avenue in Lakeside around 10:35 p.m. Both men were also ordered to stand trial for being a felon in the possession of a firearm.
Lewis will set a trial date on Feb. 28 and both men have pleaded not guilty. They remain in jail without bail.
