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Thread: Steven Carrillo Sentenced in 2020 CA Slaying of Damon Gutzwiller and Dave Patrick Underwood

  1. #11
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    41-year sentence for Ex-Air Force sergeant who killed guard

    By Associated Press

    OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A former U.S. Air Force staff sergeant and alleged member of the “boogaloo” extremist movement was sentenced to 41 years in prison Friday for the fatal shooting of a federal security officer in the San Francisco Bay Area amid large 2020 protests against police brutality.

    Steven Carrillo, 33, had pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal murder charge in the killing of David Patrick Underwood and to the attempted murder of Underwood’s colleague after federal prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.

    The men were shot on May 29, 2020, while they stood in front of a federal building in Oakland as hundreds marched on the streets.

    In February, Carrillo admitted to posting messages on Facebook a day before the shooting asking anyone if they were “down to boog” and saying he was ready to act and not just talk. He also admitted firing 19 rounds from a homemade AR-15 rifle from the back of a white van being driven by a man he connected with online.

    “I aligned myself with the anti-government movement and wanted to carry out violent acts against federal law enforcement officers in particular,” Carrillo said then.

    Prosecutors on Jan. 31 said they would not seek the death penalty, but U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said at a February hearing she was not convinced that a 41-year-sentence agreed to by prosecutors and defense lawyers was sufficient for Carrillo’s crimes.

    Gonzalez Rogers had warned that she could reject the plea agreement if she didn’t feel prosecutors and defense lawyers did enough to justify the sentence.

    On Friday, Gonzalez Rogers sentenced Carrillo to the 41-year term, a lifetime of supervised release and an amount of restitution to be determined at a later date, a court official said. She spoke directly to Underwood's family, explaining why she had accepted the agreement.

    “I believe there is evil in this world. … But from what I read and studied as I tried to make and find logic in the illogical, as I have looked for answers, as you are frustrated and angry that such a tragedy could happen, what I can tell you is that I do not see evil in Mr. Carrillo," the judge was quoted as saying by the Mercury News.

    “I know (the plea agreement) won’t make you happy but I need you to trust me. I would not accept it if I saw no measure of redemption,” she said. “He will spend virtually the rest of his life in prison in a cell that is typically no bigger than 10′ by 6′ — not even bigger than that jury box.”

    Prosecutors have said Carrillo, of Santa Cruz, had ties to the “boogaloo” movement — a concept embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and militia-style extremists. Experts say the group started in alt-right culture on the internet with the belief that there is an impending U.S. civil war.

    Authorities accused Carrillo of fatally shooting Underwood after spraying a guard shack he was in with bullets.

    Prosecutors said Robert Alvin Justus Jr., of Millbrae, drove the van. He faces federal charges of murder and attempted murder in the case.

    The pair is accused of driving to Oakland and taking advantage of the distraction afforded by people marching through the city’s downtown to protest George Floyd’s killing by a police officer in Minneapolis.

    Carrillo was arrested a week after the shooting in Oakland after he allegedly ambushed sheriff’s deputies in Santa Cruz County who were responding to a report of a van containing firearms and bomb-making materials. Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, was killed and several other law enforcement officials were wounded, according to authorities and court records.

    Prosecutors in Santa Cruz charged Carrillo with a slew of felonies, including murder and attempted murder in connection to that killing.

    Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to Gutzwiller’s killing.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/41-year-sentence-for-ex-air-force-sergeant-who-killed-guard/ar-AAY3kUW?ocid=EMMX&cvid=5f4b3c4db89a464fab9755550fb 2d922
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #12
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    Man who killed Santa Cruz County deputy Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller pleads guilty

    By Joshua Copitch
    KSBW Action News

    DUBLIN, Calif.—The man who shot and killed Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller entered a guilty please in court on Monday.

    Steven Carrillo, 33, pleaded guilty to all nine counts, including murder and special circumstances, for the murder of Sgt. Gutzwiller. His sentencing is scheduled for August.

    Earlier in the month, Carrillo was sentenced to 41 years in prison for killing a federal security officer in the San Francisco Bay Area amid large 2020 protests against police brutality. Carrillo also pleaded guilty to that shooting.

    Gutzwiller was shot and killed in the remote Santa Cruz mountain hamlet of Ben Lomond while responding to reports of a suspicious van loaded with guns and explosives in an ambush, according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart.

    Gutzwiller, 38, was a 14-year veteran of the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office. He grew up in the county and attended Cabrillo College in Aptos. He left behind his pregnant wife, Favi Gutzwiller, and a 2-year-old son.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ksb...uilty/40436721

  3. #13
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    Ex-US Air Force sergeant gets life in deputy’s killing

    AP

    SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A former Air Force sergeant who was linked to an anti-government extremist movement and in 2020 attacked law enforcement officials amid protests over the killing of George Floyd has been sentenced to life in prison without parole in the killing of a Northern California sheriff’s sergeant.

    Steven Carrillo, 33, pleaded guilty in June to all nine counts, including murder, for the killing of Santa Cruz County Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller. Also in June, a federal judge sentenced Carrillo to 41 years in prison for killing David Patrick Underwood, a federal security agent who was attacked along with a colleague while guarding a federal building in Oakland.

    Prosecutors said that on June 6, 2020, Carrillo ambushed sheriff’s deputies in Santa Cruz County who were responding to a report of a van containing firearms and bomb-making materials. Gutzwiller, 38, was killed and several other law enforcement officials were wounded.

    Carrillo, of Santa Cruz, was arrested after he ambushed officials in the community of Ben Lomond.

    Prosecutors said Carrillo, of Santa Cruz, had ties to the “boogaloo” movement, a concept embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and militia-style extremists who connected online. Experts say the group started in alt-right culture on the internet with the belief that there is an impending U.S. civil war.

    In February, Carrillo pleaded guilty to Underwood’s killing and admitted to posting messages on Facebook a day before the May 29, 2020, shooting in Oakland asking anyone if they were “down to boog” and saying he was ready to act and not just talk. He also admitted firing 19 rounds from a homemade AR-15 rifle from the back of a white van being driven by a man he connected with online.

    “I aligned myself with the anti-government movement and wanted to carry out violent acts against federal law enforcement officers in particular,” Carrillo said then.

    Carrillo fatally shot Underwood after opening fire on a guard shack as hundreds marched on the streets against police brutality following the May 2020 killing of Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.

    In the California case, Robert Alvin Justus Jr., of Millbrae, drove the van, according to prosecutors. He faces federal charges of murder and attempted murder in the case.

    A week after the shooting in Oakland, deputies arrested Carrillo shortly after he killed Gutzwiller.

    https://apnews.com/article/death-of-...2d9cde6ecd345e

  4. #14
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    Jury convicts man with ties to ‘boogaloo’ movement in 2020 killing of federal security officer

    AP

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man with ties to the “boogaloo” extremist movement was convicted of murder and attempted murder by a federal jury Tuesday in the 2020 killing of a federal security officer in Northern California during protests against police brutality.

    Robert Alvin Justus Jr., 33, now faces life in prison for the murder of Federal Protective Service Officer David Patrick Underwood. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California confirmed the verdict.

    Underwood was shot on May 29, 2020, while he stood in a guard shack outside a federal building in Oakland as hundreds marched against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

    Steven Carrillo, a former U.S. Air Force sergeant, pleaded guilty and was sentenced last year to more than four decades in federal prison for his role as the gunman in the fatal attack. He fired 19 rounds from a homemade AR-15 rifle from the back of a white van driven by Justus, whom he had connected with online. Underwood was fatally struck, and a second officer was wounded.

    Prosecutors said Justus and Carrillo were followers of the “boogaloo” movement, a concept embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and militia-style extremists. Experts say the group believes there is an impending civil war.

    An attorney for Justus declined to comment after Tuesday’s verdict. A spokesperson for the Federal Protective Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Justus testified in his own defense during the trial. He sought to portray himself as an unwilling participant and said Carrillo had forced him into the plot at gunpoint, according to the Bay Area News Group. Prosecutors, however, said Justus had opportunities to escape but did not, showing his willingness to be included in the plan.

    “In the hour leading up to the shooting, Justus exited the van twice to scout the area on foot and locate targets, returning to the van both times. Following the fatal shooting, Justus drove Carrillo back to Milbrae and the two separated,” said a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

    Justus then destroyed evidence connecting him to the shooting while continuing to correspond with Carrillo about future meetings, prosecutors said.

    Days after Underwood’s killing, Carrillo ambushed sheriff’s deputies in Santa Cruz County who were responding to a report of a van containing firearms and bomb-making materials. County Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, was killed, and several other law enforcement officials were wounded.

    Carrillo also pleaded guilty in that case and was sentenced to life in state prison without parole.

    https://apnews.com/article/boogaloo-...9272952efe416c

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