WILLMAR -- The final suspect in last summer's drive-by shooting was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to stay out of Minnesota Tuesday.
Samuel Espinoza Hernandez -- whose participation in a summer drive-by shooting consisted of sitting in a passenger seat -- pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a drive-by-shooting - dangerous weapons.
Hernandez, 20, was along for the ride on July 22 when two occupants of the vehicle he was riding in fired upon two different Willmar residences.
The four other counts Hernandez faced -- first-degree assault - liability for the crimes of another, two counts of dangerous weapons - drive-by shooting and one count of second-degree attempted murder while committing drive-by shooting -- were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
According to court records Jose Armando Padilla, 25, of Granite Falls, got into an argument with Ruben Ybarra in early July at a house party. Padilla threatened to kill Ybarra and his family. A few days later, Ybarra attempted to smooth things over, but Padilla again threatened him.
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Ybarra then moved his family from their trailer at lot D-2 in Regency Estates West to his father-in-law's residence at 1410 Gorton Ave. N.W.
On July 22, Padilla, Jose Antonio Mercado, 21, and Hernandez were driven in a van to a field by Veronica Saldana, 25. There, they picked up two guns. Padilla then directed Saldana to Ybarra's trailer, where Padilla and Mercado fired upon it with a 30-06 rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. From there, the four proceeded to Gorton Avenue, where Padilla fired upon Ybarra's father-in-law's home. At the time there were nine people in the house, including three children. Ybarra's wife's stepmother was shot just under the left breast. She survived the shooting. The van was stopped by police officers just minutes later. All were arrested without incident.
Under state guidelines, the sentence for the aiding and abetting charge to which Hernandez pleaded guilty to is three years in prison, but lawyers for the prosecution and defense agreed to a lesser sentence.
Originally, his plea agreement had just called for him to leave Minnesota and go back to his native Michigan, but Tuesday, he was also sentenced to one year in jail, of which he's already served 194 days. He will also be on probation for three years.
He was sentenced by Judge Kathryn Smith.
Hernandez is the last of four defendants to be sentenced in the case. Padilla was sentenced to 30 years in prison; Mercado received nearly 13 years in prison, due to a plea agreement made after Padilla was sentenced. Saldana was sentenced to one year in jail and 10 years of probation.
