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Prison Gang Member Gets Three Concurrent 10-Year Sentences

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Brittney Booth, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas

Jan. 18--EDINBURG -- The second brother charged in connection with multiple slayings in which victims were shot and burned was sentenced to three concurrent 10-year sentences Tuesday.

Mario Merardo Garcia's sentencing came as prosecutors explained why they gave Garcia's brother, Jose Armando Garcia Jr. -- a man who eluded conviction for nearly a year in connection with four murder charges -- only 25 years for three murders to which he pleaded guilty Friday.

Both brothers are members of the Texas Syndicate prison gang. At one point, Jose Garcia, 31, faced four murder charges and Mario Garcia, 28, was a co-defendant in two.

Mario Garcia's concurrent 10-year sentences are for his role in the murders of Felipe Macias in 2003 and Aberlardo Gonzalez in 2002. Both victims were found shot and burned in their vehicles in rural Palmview.

Mario Garcia pleaded guilty to the two murders and to also tampering with evidence in June 2005, as part of a plea agreement to testify against his brother.

Mario Garcia's plea deal followed his brother's first murder trial in April, where a jury found Jose Garcia not guilty in Macias' murder. Mario Garcia never had to take the stand against his brother because Jose Garcia signed off on his own plea agreement Friday. But prosecutors considered Mario Garcia's cooperation when carrying out the more lenient sentencing Tuesday.

"That was a deal we cut with (Mario Garcia.) We ended up not needing him, but we entered in the agreement and we are living up to that," said Assistant District Attorney Juan Villescas, who worked with Kimberly Bulger Leo on the case.

Jose Garcia's guilty plea was for the murders of Cristanos Moran Jr. and Marcy Lee Ortiz, which both occurred in 2003. Ortiz was found burned under a pile of tires near a canal in 2003 and Moran was found shot in the middle of a road March 2003.

Jose Garcia also admitted his guilt in the July 2002 capital murder case of Aberlardo Gonzalez, though that charge was dismissed against him last year.

His 25-year sentence will run concurrently, or at the same time, with the 45-year sentence Garcia received Dec. 13, after a jury found him guilty of unlawfully possessing a weapon firearm while a habitual felon. Jose Garcia also waived his right to appeal that jury conviction as part of his plea agreement.

When negotiating Jose Garcia's agreement, Villescas said prosecutors were most interested in securing a guilty plea for the sake of the victims' families. District Attorney Rene Guerra was not involved in the negotiations.

"Considering his 45-year sentence, and the strength and weaknesses of both cases, we felt that we needed an admission of guilt on both murders as some type of closure for the families," Villescas said.

Jose Garcia declined an interview request, according to a Hidalgo County Jail supervisor.

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Brittney Booth covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4437.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Monitor, McAllen, Texas

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Source: The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)

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