A Santa Rosa man was sentenced Thursday to a year in the Sonoma County Jail and four years’ probation for a knife assault at the Santa Rosa Transit Mall last year.
Jaime Gonzalez, 18, slashed a man in the face with a knife on April 17, 2014. Santa Rosa police believe Gonzalez assaulted the victim because he wanted to drop-out of Gonzalez’s street gang, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said.
Gonzalez was convicted in March of the assault with a deadly weapon and enhancements alleging the assault caused great bodily injury and that Gonzalez was a street gang member, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Judge Jaime Thistlethwaite sentenced Gonzalez to seven years in prison but suspended the sentence.
“We believe the defendant should have been committed directly to state prison based on the seriousness of the offense,” District Attorney Jill Ravitch said. “However, the court believed differently and decided to give him an opportunity to prove that he can comply with the terms of probation,” Ravitch said.
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