Two robbers involved in deadly Fresno County home invasion sentenced to prison
Two men involved in a deadly 2014 home invasion robbery and gun battle in Fresno County were sentenced Tuesday.
Sergio Hernandez, 29, of San Bernardino, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors and received a 15-year prison sentence. He pleaded no contest to felony charges of robbery of two or more people in a home. An accomplice, Chi Tang, 37, of Madera, pleaded no contest to one charge of robbery and received a 7-year sentence in prison.
Both men were involved in the robbery of a home in southeast Fresno County in August 2014. Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives said the men, along with several others, targeted a home on Orange Avenue, just south of American Avenue. They were looking for marijuana and cash.
Armed with handguns and shotguns, the robbers kicked open the door in the predawn hours, triggering a gun battle with the people inside the home, according to deputies.
Two of the bandits, Gustavo Magana and Francisco Zamora, were mortally wounded. After the violence subsided, Hernandez and Tang loaded Zamora into a car and drove at high speeds to Community Regional Medical Center. Zamora died at the hospital, were deputies arrested Hernandez and Tang.
Hernandez and Tang were originally charged with multiple felonies including two counts of murder. But sentencing guidelines changed and the murder charges were dismissed. Whoever killed Magana and Zamora has not been found.
Tang’s attorney Mario DiSalvo was satisfied with the sentence his client received.
“He was one of the least involved in this shooting,” DiSalvo said. “And he also tried to save someones life.”
