EDINBURG — Rolando Rene Rodriguez covered his face Monday as deputies escorted him out of the 370th state District Court.
A few moments earlier, state District Judge Noe Gonzalez sentenced the 22-year-old Rodriguez to 35 years in prison in connection with the shooting death of Javier Olmedo.
Rodriguez, a member of the Tri-City Bombers, a street gang formed in the early ‘80s in the Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo area, admitted Monday to shooting and killing the 17-year-old Olmedo because of a threat by Olmedo’s gang against one of Rodriguez’s family members.
Rodriguez was previously convicted in 2012 and sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge, according to court records.
Police said Olmedo suffered at least one gunshot to his head and died as a result.
Local prosecutors said at about 6 p.m. Sept. 28, 2015, Rodriguez and Jorge Alberto Guajardo, 23, fired at least 10 rounds into a vehicle carrying Olmedo and other rival gang members on West Expressway 83 near the overpass on Val Verde Road in Donna.
Guajardo, who is also affiliated with the Tri-City Bombers and scheduled for sentencing Monday, drove Rodriguez that night, but denied using a weapon in the shooting.
After the shooting, investigators recovered four 9mm bullet casings but were unable to locate the gun because Rodriguez, who was the first person arrested in connection with the fatal shooting, said he threw it in a canal shortly afterwards.
Gonzalez granted Guajardo’s attorney Christopher Sully a motion for continuance. Guajardo’ sentencing is now scheduled for Jan. 19, according to court records.
Three other men were also arrested in connection with the fatal shooting: Justin Harvey Rojas, of Donna; Fernando Reyna, of Alamo; and Isaac Cerda, of Donna, but later had their charges dismissed, according to court records.
During the more than hour-long sentencing hearing Gonzalez pressed Rodriguez, who had previously agreed to plead guilty in December to one count of murder, and two counts of attempted murder charges in exchange for a maximum of 35 years in prison, to tell him why he should consider a shorter sentence for the Donna man.
“Why should I give you less than what the state is offering?” Gonzalez asked inside the courtroom as members of Rodriguez’s family and Olmedo’s family listened.
Gonzalez asked Rodriguez questions about the night of the shooting but Rodriguez remained tight lipped, only saying he was taking responsibility for what he did.
“I did wrong,” Rodriguez told Gonzalez as he stood mere feet away from the judge.
But even a plea from Rodriguez’s younger sister wasn’t enough to convince Gonzalez to give the Donna man a lighter sentence as he ultimately sentenced Rodriguez to the state recommended prison term.
Before he was escorted out of the courtroom, a member of Olmedo’s family was given an opportunity to address the court and Rodriguez.
The woman asked Rodriguez why he shot Javier Olmedo that night; to which Rodriguez could only shake his head as he looked over at Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, after Rodriguez refused to answer the question, addressed the woman and stated the reality of the situation that lead to the teenager’s death.
“Can I sum it up by saying: gang life. That’s what it is right?” Gonzalez said. “Somebody from another group starts saying things, you take it as a threat, they turn around say other things, it escalates and all humanity is out the window, right? This is what happened.”
