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CHEYENNE – Arturo Gonzalez Jr. was sentenced to boot camp Friday in Laramie County District Court, making him the third and final defendant to be punished for being involved in a brutal kidnapping that happened here in December 2015.
Gonzalez, 20, was the only one of the three co-defendants to take his charges to trial. The other two entered into plea agreements and were sentenced earlier this year.
In January, a jury found Gonzalez guilty of committing aggravated kidnapping, which carries with it a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years.
According to the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office, evidence was presented at trial to show Gonzalez was part of a group of men who lured Zacherie Gooden to an apartment in Cheyenne. They proceeded to tie him up and beat him as part of a plan to rob him of drugs and/or money.
Gonzalez and two others were charged after an investigation with conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, and aiding and abetting aggravated robbery involving bodily injury.
The jury found Gonzalez not guilty of a robbery charge and could not come to an agreement on a kidnapping conspiracy charge, which resulted in a mistrial for that count.
Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell told Gonzalez on Friday that sending young people to prison is among the toughest decisions judges have to make.
“I don’t do this lightly, but I do it because I have to,” he said.
Campbell sentenced Gonzalez to the mandatory minimum – 20 to 23 years – but he recommended him for the state Department of Corrections’ youthful boot camp program, which means he might not have to serve all of that time behind bars.
Last defendant sentenced in kidnapping case gets boot camp
They all got hugs
Gonzalez, 20, was the only one of the three co-defendants to take his charges to trial. The other two entered into plea agreements and were sentenced earlier this year.
In January, a jury found Gonzalez guilty of committing aggravated kidnapping, which carries with it a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years.
According to the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office, evidence was presented at trial to show Gonzalez was part of a group of men who lured Zacherie Gooden to an apartment in Cheyenne. They proceeded to tie him up and beat him as part of a plan to rob him of drugs and/or money.
Gonzalez and two others were charged after an investigation with conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, and aiding and abetting aggravated robbery involving bodily injury.
The jury found Gonzalez not guilty of a robbery charge and could not come to an agreement on a kidnapping conspiracy charge, which resulted in a mistrial for that count.
Laramie County District Judge Thomas Campbell told Gonzalez on Friday that sending young people to prison is among the toughest decisions judges have to make.
“I don’t do this lightly, but I do it because I have to,” he said.
Campbell sentenced Gonzalez to the mandatory minimum – 20 to 23 years – but he recommended him for the state Department of Corrections’ youthful boot camp program, which means he might not have to serve all of that time behind bars.
Last defendant sentenced in kidnapping case gets boot camp
They all got hugs
