Santa Rosa gang members get long prison terms for attempted murder

The 20016 shooting was retaliation for police cooperation on a gang-related stabbing that sent a Sureño gang member to prison.|
NICK RAHAIM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Two Santa Rosa Sureño gang members were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Tuesday after pleading no contest last month to a 2016 attempted murder.

Gustavo Alex Castillo, 25, was sentenced to 21-years-to-life in prison for shooting a 22-year-old man sitting in a parked car in west Santa Rosa, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said. His accomplice, Salvador Flores Jr., 19, was given an 18-years-to-life prison term.

The sentences, handed down in Sonoma County Superior Court, included a special allegation that the crime was committed to benefit a criminal street gang, prosecutors said.

Castillo and Flores, then 17, approached the car Aug. 28, 2016 and fired five rounds through the windshield, hitting the victim twice.

The shooting was retaliation for the victim’s police cooperation on a gang-related stabbing that sent a Sureño gang member to prison, the DA’s Office said.

-Nick Rahaim

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