Bryan Stow Attacker To Plead Guilty In Federal Weapons Case
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — One of two men who pleaded guilty to beating San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow in a Dodger Stadium parking lot is expected to plead guilty to an additional federal weapons charge.
Marvin Norwood is scheduled to enter a formal plea on Jan. 22 to one federal count of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, according to a court docket.
Norwood's co-defendant, Louie Sanchez, has not given any indication that he will also plead guilty, and he has a pretrial conference scheduled before U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin the following day, on Jan. 23.
As of Jan. 14, Sanchez faces trial on Feb. 10 on the same weapons charge that Norwood has evidently resolved.
The weapons charge, which carries with it a possible 10-year federal prison term, stems from a search performed at Norwood's home in Rialto before the two were arrested in July of 2011. Investigators said they located firearms and live ammunition belonging to Sanchez, that were hidden in an attic.
Sanchez and Norwood both pleaded guilty in February 2014 to state charges of carrying out the opening-day attack on stow, which left the Giants fan with permanent brain damage. They were sentenced to eight- and four-year prison terms respectively.
Norwood was taken into federal custody on Feb. 21 of 2014, one day after he was sentenced in state court. He had spent eight months in county jail, beyond the two years of the four-year sentence he was required to serve as part of a plea deal in the assault on Stow, and he was about to be released when federal authorities pounced.
About a half-dozen weapons, including two semiautomatic rifles, a pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and a revolver, and nearly 70 rounds of ammunition were found by investigators upon searching Norwood's home.
Norwood then told police that the weapons were, in fact, not his, and that he had allowed Sanchez to store them there. Federal authorities, however, concluded that the weapons were in the possession of, and were available to, both men.
Court records indicate that both Norwood and Sanchez had prior convictions in San Bernardino, before the Stow assault at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2011.
Sanchez was also convicted of evading a police officer in 2006, and a misdemeanor count of domestic violence in 2003.
Norwood was found guilty of felony spousal assault in 2006, according to the indictment.
Stow, now 45, remains severely impared with permanent brain damage. The father of two and former paramedic was in hospitals for the first two years after the attack, and he still requires daily care by his family.
A civil jury awarded roughly $18 million in damages to Stow in July 2014. However, after a lengthy deliberation, the panel found that only Los Angeles Dodgers LLC, the business entity that was created by former owner Frank McCourt, and the two assailants, were liable.
Los Angeles Dodgers LLC will have to pay roughly $14.1 million of final judgement. McCourt, however, was exonerated of any culpability in the attack.
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