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SALT LAKE CITY — The last of four men linked to the death of an innocent woman as they hunted for rival gang members was sentenced to prison Wednesday.
George Blake Angilau, 26, was ordered to serve one to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the 2009 death of 22-year-old Krystal Flores. Angilau will also serve a concurrent sentence of three to 15 years for discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony.
Three additional firearms charges were dismissed as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Angilau was the last of four men to plead guilty and be sentenced in Flores' death. The four men — Angilau; Nitokalisi Niki Fonua, 33; Pailate Lomu, 27; and Alexander Bloomfield, 36 — were originally charged with murder, a first-degree felony.
In letters of support sent to 3rd District Judge Randall Skanchy, three addiction recovery advocates shared accounts of Angilau's achievements in jail and their personal opinions about his sincerity.
"George is devastated — beyond words — for his role in his tragic, horrible crimes. We have discussed his crushing sense of guilt countless times. We share tears during those conversations," wrote Roy Parker, director of the Summit County Recovery Foundation. "George has learned he cannot change the past. But he can model the traits that both accept responsibility and shepherd others to avoid criminality, gang membership and substance abuse."
According to police and a 2011 preliminary hearing, Angilau and the others were members of the West Valley-based Baby Regulators at the time of the shooting. Tensions were high between the gang and the Tongan Crips group, and the men went looking for a party where they believed they would find members of the rival gang.
According to charging documents, an armed Fonua headed into the home at 1309 S. Stewart St., but realized it was the wrong house.
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4th man pleads guilty in 2009 wrong-house gang shooting
The last of four men has pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a sleeping woman when they went looking for members of a rival gang and broke into the wrong house.Others in the home took cover in another room when two men burst through the front door and gunfire rang out. They didn't witness the shooting but emerged to find Flores on the couch where she had been sleeping, wounded with a gunshot to the head. She died Aug. 2, 2009.
While Fonua claimed sole responsibility for the shooting at a sentencing hearing earlier this year, prosecutors noted there was evidence that several people entered the home and suggested that Fonua was trying to protect members of his gang.
Fonua pleaded guilty in April to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in Flores' death. In the same hearing, charges were filed and Fonua pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the 2007 killing of Viliami Latu, 34, whom Fonua admitted to shooting when he went to the man's house to settle a debt. He was sentenced to consecutive sentences of two to 20 years in prison for the two killings.
Bloomfield pleaded guilty in August to criminal homicide by assault, felony discharge of a firearm and attempted burglary, all reduced to third-degree felonies. He was sentenced to one term of three to five years in prison for the firearm charge and two terms of zero to five years in prison for the additional charges. The sentences are consecutive.
Lomu pleaded guilty in May to manslaughter and burglary, with both charges reduced to second-degree felonies. He was sentenced July 19 to concurrent terms of two to 20 years in prison, with a weapons enhancement. That sentence will run consecutively to other prison terms he is already serving.
