An illegal Mexican immigrant who was acquitted of murdering a woman on a California pier was sentenced to time served in his federal gun case and warned never to return to the U.S.
Jose Inez Garcia Zarate, 51, was sentenced to the seven years he’s already spent in jail on Monday after having previously plead guilty to weapons charges in the death of Kathryn ‘Kate’ Steinle.
Steinle, 32, was walking along a crowded San Francisco pier with her father and a family friend in July 2015 when she was shot in the back and killed.
Garcia Zarate admitted to holding the gun that killed Steinle but claimed it accidentally fired when he picked it up from under a bench. Officials said the bullet ricocheted off the ground and hit Steinle.
The shooting shocked a country already divided over immigration and fueled Donald Trump’s successful campaign for president. Trump called for a crackdown on unlawful immigration and the sanctuary cities and states – including San Francisco and California – that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Garcia Zarate will now be transported to Texas where he faces federal charges for failing to report his location to immigration officials after he was released from a San Francisco jail shortly before the shooting. He had been deported five time and was on track to be removed from the country again when Steinle was shot.
He was acquitted in 2017 of various charges including murder, but federal prosecutors charged him with illegally possessing a firearm.
Lock up the Judge !!!!
WTF !!!!!
are you in shock??? I’m not
What a disgusting shame! These liberal judges have just got to go.