A man who thought he was meeting up with a woman for an evening of love, encountered something much different.
When Norman Early III entered a Bakersfield, Calif. house he was met with a beating that almost took his life –not the Marine spouse in which he was having an affair with.
Three Marines, Sergio Medina, 22, Rodrigo Sanchez, 20, and Leonardo Ortiz, 20 beat him, bound him with zip ties and threatened to kill him, according to the Bakersfield Californian.
The men, who wore hockey masks to conceal their identities, beat him, stole his cellphone and wallet because they believed he was having an affair with one of their wives.
All three of them pleaded no contest to the count of first-degree robbery in July.
Early was beaten so bad that his kidneys failed at one point, causing him to be place on dialysis.
“I knew what my fate was,” Early told the court of the beating. “I was going to be murdered.”
Before the sentencing, he told the court that the men never deserved the honor of being Marines.
Judge John S. Somers said the Marines, who have since been discharged, were lucky they were not facing life in prison.
Under the defendant’s plea agreement, other charges and torture –which carries the possibility of a life sentence- were dropped.
The prosecutor, after being asked by Judge Somners, explained the only reason the plea agreement was offered is because he did not believe he could prove some of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Medina’s lawyer claimed the incident occurred after Early persistently pursued a relationship with Medina’s wife while he was on a deployment overseas.
Medina’s wife, Diane Reyes, allegedly attempted to break off the affair but claims Early persisted. She eventually told her husband of the relationship.
Medina’s lawyer contends Medina lured Early, by using Reyes’ phone, to the home where Sanchez and Ortiz were waiting.
The Marine veterans were sentenced to prison Wednesday, with Medina receiving six years, and Sanchez and Ortiz getting three-year terms.
Kyle J. Humphrey, the lawyer representing Sanchez, said his client knew from the day of the incident that what he did was wrong. But also defended his client by saying, “You don’t want to be sniffing around another man’s wife.”
All rights reserved. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted at info@brightmountainmedia.com, ticker BMTM.