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CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
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Case #16389 Rating: 3.4 out of 5
Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009
County: Cameron
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Mario Alberto Gasca
» Jesus Javier Martinez
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
One of two Brownsville teenagers accused in an attack that left a puppy dead has pleaded guilty this morning to one count of cruelty to non-livestock animals.
Mario Alberto Gasca, 19, appeared before 103rd state District Judge Janet Leal where he pleaded guilty to killing the neighborhood puppy in December.
Action 4 News first reported back in December that Gasca used a pair of gardening shears to stab and gut a neighbor's puppy in an act of retaliation.
Both he and alleged co-defenendant Jesus Javier Martinez were later indicted on on animal cruely and tampering with evidence charges.
After accepting his guilty plea, Leal sentenced Gasca to 18 months in a state jail facility. He will be credited for the time he has been incarcerated at a Cameron County jail, which was about 106 days.
When asked if he any prior convictions, Gasca told Leal that he had none and that he did not have a juvenile record either.
She responded so "one day you just woke up and decided you were going to do this stuff."
Gasca and Jesus Javier Martinez, 17, were arrested in December on allegations they killed the neighborhood puppy, Brownsville police said.
Gasca is accused of kicking and stabbing the puppy with gardening shears, while during the attack Martinez laughed and encouraged Gasca to kill the animal, police said.
The male puppy, its name unknown to authorities, was found dead in the 2700 block of La Plaza Drive in the Southmost area.
The charges were filed against the two teenagers after police met with a female at the location who said Gasca had killed her puppy.
Martinez's status was not immediately clear this morning.
Case Updates
The second teenager accused in the attack on a puppy that left the animal dead has been sentenced to 14 months in a state jail after pleading guilty to the charge.
Jesus Javier Martinez, 17, of Brownsville, appeared before 103rd state District Judge Janet Leal on Friday where he en-tered a guilty plea to one count of cruelty to non-livestock animals, officials said.
After accepting Martinez’s guilty plea, Leal sentenced Martinez to 14 months in a state jail.
Martinez’s guilty plea comes one day after Mario Alberto Gasca, 20, also of Brownville, and also accused in the crime pleaded guilty to the same charge. Gasca was sentenced to 18 months in a state jail.
Gasca and Martinez were indicted in January on charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of the puppy.
Although the two initially faced misdemeanor charges in the case, after reviewing the cases the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office sought the indictment on felony counts, authorities said.
The two teenagers were arrested in December on allegations they killed the neighborhood puppy, police said.
Gasca is accused of kicking and stabbing the puppy, while during the attack Martinez laughed and encouraged Gasca to kill the animal, police said.
The male puppy, its name unknown to authorities, was found dead in the 2700 block of La Plaza Drive in the Southmost area.
The charges were filed against the two teenagers after police met with a female at the location who said Gasca had killed her puppy. |
Source: Brownsville Herald - My 28, 2010
Update posted on Jun 28, 2010 - 11:14PM |
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