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SALT LAKE CITY — Two men have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for firing a gun multiple times at a witness.
On March 3, police were called to the LeBanke Apartments, 3185 S. 200 East in South Salt Lake, about 12:30 a.m. on a report of shots being fired. A man told police he saw two men and a woman slashing three of his four tires, then went inside to call police and the people drove off. But they soon came back and two men began to shoot toward him, hitting multiple cars, according to charging documents.
Police reported finding two dozen .223 shell casings and a dozen 9mm shell casings in the street. Five vehicles and part of the apartment complex were damaged, according to police. But despite the large number of bullets found, no one was injured.
Diego Luis Vega, 20, was sentenced on Jan. 23 to between one and 15 years in prison for possession of a gun by a restricted person, a second-degree felony, and between three and five years in prison for four counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. Third District Judge Elizabeth Ruby-Mills ordered those sentences to run concurrently.
Vega pleaded guilty to those charges on Dec. 5 as part of a plea deal. In exchange, multiple similar charges were dismissed. Twenty-seven charges were originally filed against him in the case.
"I know any person could have been harmed by the discharge," Vega said in his plea statement.
He admitted the firearm in his possession was discharged four times, and that because of felony firearm charges as a juvenile he was not allowed to possess a firearm.
Angel Enrique Ramos, 21, was sentenced on Monday to between one and 15 years in prison for possession of a gun by a restricted person, a second-degree felony, and between three and five years in prison for two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. Those sentences will run concurrently.
He pleaded guilty on Dec. 12 to one count of possession of a gun by a restricted person, a second-degree felony, and two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. Eleven other similar charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Vega was arrested first. Ramos was arrested after he went to visit Vega in jail and Vega asked him if he had gotten his car fixed — leading officers to investigate whether the other man was Ramos.
