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

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

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

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

“I aligned myself with the anti-government movement and wanted to commit acts of violence against federal law enforcement in particular,” Carrillo said at the time.

On January 31, prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty, but U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told a hearing in February that she was not convinced a sentence of 41 years accepted by prosecutors and defense attorneys was sufficient for Carrillo’s crimes.

Gonzalez Rogers had warned that she might reject the plea deal if she didn’t think prosecutors and defense attorneys were doing enough to justify the sentence.

On Friday, Gonzalez Rogers sentenced Carrillo to 41 years, a lifetime supervised release and a restitution amount to be determined at a later date, a court official said. She spoke directly to Underwood’s family, explaining why she agreed to the deal.

“I believe there is evil in this world. … But from what I read and studied as I tried to do and find the logic in the illogical, that I looked for answers, that you are frustrated and angry that such a tragedy could happen, what I can tell you is that I don’t see the harm in Mr. Carrillo, ”said the judge quoted by the MercuryNews.

“I know (the plea deal) won’t make you happy, but I need you to trust me. I wouldn’t accept it if I didn’t see any measure of redemption,” she said “He will practically spend the rest of his life in prison in a cell that is usually no more than 10 feet by 6 feet – not even larger than this jury box.”

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

Authorities charged Carrillo with killing Underwood after he sprayed a guard cabin he was in with bullets.

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

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

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

Santa Cruz prosecutors charged Carrillo with a series of crimes, including murder and attempted murder in connection with that murder.

Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to Gutzwiller’s murder.

Show full article