SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal decide on Monday sentenced the Mexican man acquitted of homicide within the 2015 taking pictures loss of life of a lady on a San Francisco pier to the seven years he’s already spent in jail — bringing to a authorized shut the case that ignited a nationwide firestorm over immigration, crime and sanctuary cities.
Jose Inez Garcia Zarate was within the U.S. illegally when Kate Steinle, 32, was fatally shot alongside a crowded Pier 14 the place she was strolling along with her father and a household good friend. He faces deportation and U.S. District Decide Vince Chhabria informed him in court docket to by no means return to the U.S.
The taking pictures shocked a rustic already divided over immigration and fueled Donald Trump’s profitable marketing campaign for president. Trump known as for a crackdown on illegal immigration and the sanctuary cities and states — together with San Francisco and California — that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Garcia Zarate admitted firing the gun on July 4, 2015, however stated he discovered it below a bench and didn’t know what it was when he picked it up as a result of it was wrapped in a T-shirt. The gun fired by accident after he picked it up, he stated. Officers stated the bullet ricocheted off the bottom and hit Steinle.
He was acquitted of murder costs by a San Francisco jury in 2017 however confronted firearms costs in federal court docket. In March, he pleaded responsible to being a felon in possession of a firearm and an individual illegally within the nation in possession of a firearm.
“In the event you return to this nation once more and you might be again in entrance of me, I can't spare you. Let this be your final warning: don't return to this nation,” Chhabria stated earlier than sentencing Garcia Zarate to the time he has already served.
Chhabria additionally delivered a harsh rebuke of the psychological well being therapy obtained by Garcia Zarate for his schizophrenia whereas in custody, which the decide stated was nearly nonexistent.
Garcia Zarate will probably be despatched to Texas, the place he faces a federal decide for failing to report his location when he was launched from a San Francisco jail shortly earlier than the taking pictures. He had been deported 5 instances and was on monitor to be faraway from the U.S. once more when he shot Steinle.
The utmost sentence on the firearms costs was 10 years. Prosecutors agreed to the sentence of time served plus three years of probation. Garcia Zarate’s attorneys wished a shorter sentence so he might apply any time left over in case the decide in Texas imposes extra jail time.
The handgun belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land Administration ranger who reported it stolen from his parked automotive per week earlier than Steinle was killed.
Earlier than the killing, Garcia Zarate had not too long ago accomplished a jail sentence for unlawful re-entry to the U.S. when he was transferred to San Francisco to face a 20-year-old marijuana cost.
Prosecutors declined the case, however the San Francisco sheriff launched him from jail regardless of a federal immigration request to detain him for at the least two extra days for deportation.
Garcia Zarate “feels horrible about what occurred, and that he’s very sorry and apologizes,” his lawyer, Mike Hinckley, stated in court docket Monday.
The decide stated he doesn't consider that prosecutors proved that Garcia Zarate had acted with legal recklessness within the taking pictures and that he possible didn't perceive what was taking place that day when he killed Steinle, due to his psychological well being sickness.
Chhabria additionally expressed sympathy for Garcia Zarate, who spent most of his seven years in county jail with out remedy or significant therapy.
Two medical doctors recognized Garcia Zarate with schizophrenia and located him unfit to face trial as a result of he couldn't observe the court docket proceedings.
“That should have been hell,” Chhabria stated.
However the decide additionally stated that penalties matter and that Garcia Zarate admitted being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Steinle’s kinfolk weren't current in court docket for the sentencing and prosecutors stated her household didn't wish to take part within the proceedings.