2 men sentenced to state prison for 2014 shootings in Healdsburg, Windsor

Two Sonoma County men were sentenced Wednesday to a combined three decades in state prison for their roles on the night two years ago when shots were fired into a Healdsburg home and at a stranger stranded with his vehicle in Windsor.

Miguel Madrigal, 21, received a sentence of 14 years and Ricardo Botello, 20, received a sentence of 16 years, eight months for their involvement in the 2014 shootings, the second of which left a man with a bullet in his face.

Madrigal and Botello had each previously pleaded no contest.

“God put us all on this earth to do great things,” Matthew Muser read in a statement at the sentencing in Sonoma Superior Court. “With his help and grace, I have been able to make amends with what happened to me.”

Victim advocate Rocio Torres-Murphy read a statement on behalf of Muser’s wife saying it did not matter what motivated Madrigal and Botello two years ago.

“I have chosen to forgive you, and that’s all that matters,” Torres-Murphy read in court.

Both shootings occurred the night of June 13, 2014.

Madrigal, Botello and a third man drank alcohol and smoked marijuana, later firing shots into a house on March Street in Healdsburg, “barely missing the occupants who were lying in bed,” the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Then the trio drove to Windsor, where Botello fired eight shots from a .45-caliber pistol at Muser, whose car was stalled near Brooks Road and Arata Lane.

At a preliminary hearing last year, Muser said the bullet that went into his cheek that night was still there.

The third participant, Jose Martinez, 21, was previously sentenced to one year in county jail after pleading no contest to being an accessory.

Attorneys for Madrigal and Botello separately asked the court Wednesday to consider sentencing their clients to ?12 years and 15 years, respectively. This would have represented the low end of their possible sentences.

Attorneys asked Judge Robert LaForge to consider their clients’ ages and support from family, among other factors.

“I’m asking the court to give him the light at the end of the tunnel,” said attorney Joseph Passalacqua, who represented Madrigal.

The sentences handed down by LaForge instead fell more in the middle of sentencing guidelines.

Madrigal faced a maximum of 19 years in prison and Botello faced a maximum of?20 years.

The judge admitted it was unusual to hear the kind of statements read Wednesday by Muser and on behalf of his wife.

“You’re lucky to hear that,” he told Madrigal and Botello before announcing their sentences.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @thejdmorris.