The man who helped accused cop killer Raul Gomez-Garcia bury evidence and escape from Denver promised in court Friday to help police in their investigation of Gomez-Garcia and testify against him in court.
In return for the cooperation of Jaime Arana-Del Angel, 27, and his plea of guilty to one count of accessory after the fact, prosecutors dropped a couple of charges against Arana-Del Angel that will cut his prison sentence by at least half, if not more.
As early as last November, legal analysts predicted that prosecutors would cut a deal with Arana-Del Angel to shore up their case against Gomez-Garcia.
Gomez-Garcia is accused of fatally shooting Detective Donald Young and wounding his partner, Detective Jack Bishop, on May 8.
With the aid of Arana-Del Angel, Gomez-Garcia buried bullets and magazines in a hole. Then in two separate vehicles, they headed for Las Vegas. In court documents released Friday, Arana-Del Angel said Gomez-Garcia had no idea how to get to Las Vegas so he drove with him to Parachute and gave him directions to the Nevada city. His last statement to Gomez-Garcia was, “If you get lost, give me a call,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit by Detective Randall Stegman.
Gomez-Garcia was captured almost a month later in Culiacan, Mexico
The arrest warrant also revealed that although Arana-Del Angel did not directly participate in Young’s shooting, he observed an earlier physical and verbal altercation between Gomez-Garcia and Young and then heard Gomez-Garcia make statements about how he was going to go back and shoot the officer.
The normal sentencing range for accessory after the fact is two to six years. But prosecutor Bruce Levin could ask Denver District Judge Robert McGahey, Jr., to find aggravating circumstances and ask the judge to sentence Arana-Del Angel to 12 years at a hearing June 1.
But McGahey warned prosecutors Friday that if they ask for a sentence in the aggravated range, he believes that under current decisions out of the U.S. Supreme Court and Colorado Supreme Court, he doesn’t have the power to impose an aggravated sentence.
Recent decisions by the courts say that only juries, not judges, can impose aggravated sentences.
“You have to show me something in the law that gives me the discretion,” McGahey said. “I don’t think there is. I’m warning you up front.”
The plea agreement, scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, was delayed two hours as Frank Moya, Arana-Del Angel’s lawyer, went over the voluminous plea agreement with his client. During that time, Kelly Young, widow of the slain officer, had to wait in court. After the deal was completed, Young declined comment.
But through Lynn Kimbrough, spokesperson for the Denver district attorney’s office, Young said she was satisfied and felt comfortable with the plea bargain.
Arana-Del Angel, however, was nervous and wanted people to know that he didn’t directly participate in the shootings of Young and Bishop, helping Gomez-Garcia after the fact.
“He’s getting feedback from some that he was involved directly in the homicide itself,” Moya said about his client. “He was nervous about that.”
Moya said that Arana-Del Angel has no previous record and told authorities he was afraid of Gomez-Garcia and what the alleged killer might do to Arana-Del Angel’s family in Mexico if he didn’t cooperate with Gomez-Garcia.
“Most people can understand why he might be afraid of Gomez-Garcia because Gomez-Garcia (allegedly) assassinated someone because he felt insulted,” Moya said.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
