A second Calwa gang member is sentenced to prison for attempted murder plot
Juan Venegas, a Calwa gang member who pleaded no contest to attempted murder, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday.
The 40-year-old Venegas was one of 14 people arrested in October as part of a three-month investigation by law enforcement into gang crimes, including murder and gun possession. Several teenagers, including 13- and 14-year old boys, were also arrested.
Venegas and high-ranking gang member Jessie Aguilar, 47, were scheduled to go to trial last month for multiple felonies. But at the last minute, they agreed to plead no contest to attempted murder.
Aguilar was sentenced on March 9 to 25-years-to-life in prison. He was already serving a life term at Salinas Valley State Prison for the 2014 gang-related killing of Fernando Zapata in Fresno.
Court records revealed that Aguilar, despite being in prison, coordinated a plan with Venegas to kill a gang rival.
Aguilar used a contraband cell phone and an encrypted text messaging app to try and avoid detection, according to court records.
Also caught in the gang sweep was Christina Pauline Lopez, 42. She is charged with 22 felonies, including conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms without a license, conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms to a person under 21, and carrying a loaded gun in public.
She has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to be in court on April 6 in Dept. 31.
Senior District Attorney Robert Veneman-Hughes said Friday that he has not yet made a plea bargain offer to Lopez.
Law enforcement officials have accused Lopez of buying firearms with the money she received in a settlement from the city of Fresno after her son Isiah Murrietta-Golding, 16, was killed as he fled from police on April 16, 2017.
The city agreed to pay $4.9 million to her in the case. A video of the shooting, released in October 2019, shows Sgt. Ray Villalvazo firing a single round that struck the back of the head of the fleeing Murrietta-Golding.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 2:20 PM.
