OH - Miguel Gutierrez gets maximum sentence for helping in beating- not deported?

Miguel Gutierrez gets maximum sentence for helping in beating

By Tracey Read

A Painesville man was sentenced Friday to the maximum 180 days in jail and $1,000 fine for helping to beat another male unconscious.

Miguel Gutierrez, 18, was convicted last week by a Lake County Common Pleas Court jury on misdemeanor counts of assault and possessing criminal tools.

He was acquitted on two counts of felonious assault.

Gutierrez was one of seven people charged with a December assault that occurred on South Park Place.

Police said they found two men who had been beaten, including a 32-year-old man who was treated for injuries to his eye and face, as well as a concussion.

“He was left unconscious on South Park Place, and by the grace of God and some bystanders that helped him, he could have died there,” Assistant Lake County Prosecutor Charles Cichocki said.

Gutierrez, in court with defense attorney Hector Martinez, took the stand during his trial but declined comment at sentencing.

“Miguel is known in the community as a peaceful person, not a violent person,” Martinez said.

Gutierrez, who has already served 159 days of his sentence, has 30 days to appeal.

Judge Eugene A. Lucci also ordered Gutierrez to pay the victim’s medical bills, which totaled $7,795 just for the emergency room, plus the cost of his prosecution.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a holder on Gutierrez, who is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. However, he likely won’t be deported because he was not convicted of a felony, officials said.

Lucci has no control over whether Gutierrez will be deported, but said he gave Gutierrez the maximum sentence he could by law.

“The victim was close to death,” said the judge.

Co-defendant Nestor Martinez, 18, of Painesville, is scheduled to be tried June 26.

Three other adult defendants were convicted of misdemeanors in Painesville Municipal Court.

Two minors also were charged in the case.
Miguel Gutierrez gets maximum sentence for helping in beating (with video) - news-herald.com