A gang member in Orange County, Calif. has been sentenced to two life terms after he was found guilty of a home invasion robbery during which he pistol-whipped a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter.
Wearing ski masks, Carlos Alberto Martinez, 26, and an accomplice used a key that they sole from underneath the front door mat to enter the home, located in Santa Ana. Both men were armed with firearms when they attacked a 78-year-old grandmother and her 54-year-old daughter, eventually duct tapping them to a chair.
Martinez and his accomplice continually hit the grandmother and the mother as they demanded jewelry and cash. In the end, they only made away with $64 cash and $150 worth of jewelry.
A 17-year-old girl was also forced to get out of the shower and come into the kitchen.
Martinez, who already had a strike conviction for a robbery, will face enhanced penalties under the three strikes law. But because he was charged with so many felonies, he was sentenced to two life terms.
Martinez was convicted of:
- Three felony counts of first-degree robbery
- Two felony counts of false imprisonment by violence
- Two felony counts of false imprisonment by violence of an elder
- First degree residential burglary
- Aggravated assault
- Assault with a firearm
- Elder abuse
- Street terrorism
He faced sentencing enhancement for:
- Criminal street gang activity
- Causing great bodily injury
- The personal use of a firearm
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