Thread: OR: Killer disavows gangs, gets life term

Killer disavows gangs, gets life term
Guilty plea - Luis Felipe Gonzalez, 34, apologizes to the family of his victim
Friday, January 25, 2008
HOLLY DANKS
The Oregonian Staff

HILLSBORO -- A 34-year-old man stood up in court after pleading guilty to murder Thursday and tearfully proclaimed it is wrong to be in a gang, to hurt others and to disobey God's laws.

Luis Felipe Gonzalez, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, asked forgiveness from his family and the family of Juan Humberto Rincon Cruz, who died in a Beaverton parking lot on March 25, 2006.

"He took many, many things," Rincon's uncle, Manuel Cruz Estrada, said through the court interpreter. "His mother is left with problems until today. Food to her today, she says, is bitter. Nevertheless, I don't wish him any ill or to his family."
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Gonzalez shot Rincon twice in the back -- once as he was running away and once as he tried to crawl to safety. Moises De Los Santos was getting in a van with Rincon at the Center Plaza apartments when a bullet went through one side of his waist and out the other, hitting his stomach.

Rincon, 25, and De Los Santos, then 24, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when 15 to 20 members of the Southside 13th gang came looking for Beaverton gangsters who beat up a Southsider the night before in Salem. Police said neither Rincon nor De Los Santos was a gang member or involved in the earlier fight.

"I am very sorry," Gonzalez said to Rincon's uncle, his only family member in court. "I want to provide an example to all those who see me, especially to my children, and also an example for my friends, my true friends.

"I didn't mean for all of this to happen. Unfortunately, it happened at a point of ignorance in my previous life."

Gonzalez pleaded guilty to murder and first-degree assault, although he maintained he wasn't the one who shot De Los Santos. Roger Hanlon, Washington County chief deputy district attorney, said Gonzalez was charged under the aid-and-abet theory, making him as responsible as the person who actually fired the gun.

Gonzalez previously served time in the federal prison at Sheridan on weapons charges, and then was deported. He came back to the United States illegally under an assumed name and will be deported again after he serves a minimum 25 years of his life sentence for murder.

"I am changed," Gonzalez professed. "It is sad to take away the life of others; I understand now what that is."

Gonzalez said he wanted to be an example for his five children and the two Rincon children in Mexico. He stopped to wipe his nose with his shackled hand, and said he also wanted to help starving children throughout the world and children in hospitals with cancer.

"I want to tell gang members, there are more important things to do -- to save lives," Gonzalez said.

Washington County Circuit Judge Marco A. Hernandez agreed, saying he was shocked that someone as old as Gonzalez was still in a gang. "You had one job," Hernandez said. "It was to take care of your family and not be involved with this stuff."

The case took nearly a year to solve because witnesses weren't talking at first and suspects fled the area. Gonzalez was arrested Jan. 6, 2007, using a fake name when he was stopped for traffic violations and illegal re-entry in Hillsboro.

Luciano Talavera Cibrian, 37, was arrested in connection with the case in Marysville, Wash., on Jan. 5, 2007. His trial on charges of murder, attempted murder and first-degree assault remains scheduled for March 4.

Holly Danks: 503-221-4377; hollydanks@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/sto ... xml&coll=7

Sorry.....probably the only thing he's sorry for is getting caught and laughing his butt off for the fools who believe him.

More heart-warming stories of Mexican family values....

So at $40,000 per year what will this end up costing us?

"Gonzalez shot Rincon twice in the back -- once as he was running away and once as he tried to crawl to safety."

Typical. These illegal invaders are nothing but cowards.

Originally Posted by crazybird

Sorry.....probably the only thing he's sorry for is getting caught and laughing his butt off for the fools who believe him.

No kidding, I'll bet he'll back w/his gangbangers buddies as soon as he's put away.

Might not cost as much as you think. I thought if you "disavow" the gang they kill you. I'm sure there are plenty of his fellow gang bangers in prison.