Ex-Air Force sergeant gets 41 years for murder of security guard outside Oakland courthouse
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KION-TV) UPDATE June 3, 2022, 12:27 p.m.-- A judge has accepted Steven Carillo's plea deal and he will be sentenced to 41 years in federal prison for 1st-degree murder and attempted murder.
Once Carillo leaves prison he will have to be under a lifetime of supervised release and pay restitution of no less than $50,000 must be paid, according to federal court documents.
This sentencing stems from when Carillo shot and killed federal protective service officer David Patrick Underwood, and wounded a second officer on May 29, 2020, in Oakland.
If Carillo didn't take the plea he could have faced the death penalty.
He was found guilty of driving to Oakland with Millbrae resident Robert Alvin Justus Junior and taking advantage of the distraction afforded by protesters marching through the city’s downtown, before firing his gun, according to our Fox affiliate.
A week later, authorities tracked Carrillo to his home in Santa Cruz County, where he's suspected of killing Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, and wounding other law enforcement officials.
Carillo faces felony charges for allegedly shooting and killing Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, in an attack that happened days after the shooting in Oakland.
Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to killing Gutzwiller.
The Gutzwiller case will be heard in Santa Cruz County Court.
In February, Carrillo said he posted messages on Facebook a day before the shooting asking anyone if they were “down to boog” and saying he was ready to act and not just talk. He also admitted firing 19 rounds from a homemade AR-15 rifle from the back of a white van being driven by a man he connected with online.
“I aligned myself with the anti-government movement and wanted to carry out violent acts against federal law enforcement officers in particular,” Carrillo said then.
Prosecutors have said Carrillo, of Santa Cruz, had ties to the “boogaloo” movement — a concept embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and militia-style extremists. Experts say the group started in alt-right culture on the internet with the belief that there is an impending U.S. civil war.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she would have rejected the plea agreement if she didn't feel prosecutors and defense lawyers did enough to justify the sentence.
---
UPDATE Feb. 11, 2022, 12:06 p.m.-- Steven Carrillo has pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a federal officer in Oakland in late May of 2020.
Carillo is expected to face charges for shooting and killing Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller as well, in an attack that happened days after the shooting in Oakland.
The Gutzwiller case will be heard in Santa Cruz County Court.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former U.S. Air Force sergeant plans to change his not guilty plea in the fatal shooting of a federal security officer in Northern California during protests against police brutality.
Steven Carrillo pleaded not guilty in July 2020 in David Patrick Underwood's killing. Underwood was shot May 29, 2020, while in a guard shack in front of an Oakland federal building. Court records filed Monday show the 33-year-old is scheduled to change his plea Friday.
READ MORE: Suspect in deadly Ben Lomond ambush charged in murder of Oakland federal officer
Prosecutors said Carrillo had ties to the “boogaloo” movement, a concept embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and militia-style extremists. In a separate case, Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to killing a sheriff’s deputy in Santa Cruz County.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
