Gang Leader Sentenced to 31 Years in Shooting
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A leader of a Pacoima street gang has been sentenced to 31 years and 4 months in prison for his part in an unprovoked shooting in Van Nuys that left one man dead and another injured.
In giving 21-year-old Ernest Townsend maximum sentences for one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stephen D. Petersen said Townsend had lived up to his gang nickname--Evil.
According to evidence at Townsend’s trial in January, he was one of at least three men who opened fire on three unarmed Los Angeles men outside of a bar in the 8900 block of Woodman Avenue last July 13.
Jason Jefferson, 22, was fatally wounded while sitting in a pickup, and Derek Potter, 20, was shot in the hip. A second suspect is awaiting trial and a third one has not been identified.
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