Update: Illegal immigrant gets six years in prison at re-sentencing for sexual assault
August 11, 2009

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An illegal immigrant convicted of sexually assaulting a child will spend two fewer years in prison because a judge failed to advise him of likely deportation.



Martin L. Gamez, 19, had been sentenced in June 2008 to eight years in prison for masturbating behind a partially clothed 8-year-old girl in August 2007. But Judge Timothy Van Akkeren allowed Gamez to withdraw that plea in May because the judge did not advise Gamez at sentencing that as a felon he would be subject to deportation, as required by law.


Tuesday, Gamez again pleaded guilty to the count of first-degree sexual assault of a child, this time receiving a six-year prison sentence from Van Akkeren. That was the amount recommended in a plea agreement between District Attorney Joe DeCecco and Gamez’s new attorney, Jeffrey Jensen.


“It is with some hesitation that I accept the recommendation of the state, recognizing that there has been some positive things from Mr. Gamez while he is in prison,â€