REDWOOD CITY — A 27-year-old man was sentenced to 16 years in prison Monday for his involvement in a marijuana sale that left a 17-year-old Carlmont High School student shot dead in 2019.
Ruben A. Gonzales-Magallanes, of Indianapolis, pleaded no contest in August to felony robbery and felony voluntary manslaughter with a firearm enhancement and aggravating factors for his role in the death of Mohammad Othman, prosecutors said. The sentence was imposed by San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Kevin Dunleavy at a hearing Monday.
As part of the earlier plea, the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office dropped a murder charge and a special circumstance allegation.
“We are satisfied … in light of what we felt we could prove,” District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said. “There was some serious proof issues in the case.”
Gonzales-Magallanes’ defense attorneys said they felt he made the right decision to accept a plea deal instead of going to trial in light of the facts and provability of the case.
“When you’re looking at life without possibility of parole, even if Mr. Carr and I are of the mindset of, look, you have a defense and you can go to trial, and you may win, but we know we can’t predict what jurors will do, right?” May Mar said. “So in light of what he was facing, is this fair? I guess we would say yes.”
Geoff Carr added that “it’s very unclear who shot who, and whether there was an agreement to rob anybody.” Both groups “appeared to be trying to rob each other,” said Carr, who also represented Gonzales-Magallanes.
“We think he made the right decision,” Carr said.
Gonzales-Magallanes’ prison term will be served consecutively to a life-in-prison term in Indiana, Wagstaffe said. He was initially charged with murder in the shooting death of an 18-year-old man in a town outside Indianapolis. He plead no contest to voluntary manslaughter in 2021, according to Indiana court records.
On Jan. 7, 2019, Gonzales-Magallanes, 25-year-old Antonio Marcos Valencia, and other accomplices who were juveniles at the time arranged to sell marijuana to Othman and his friends on the campus of Central Elementary School in Belmont around 11 p.m., prosecutors said.
Gonzales-Magallanes and the other defendants decided to instead rob Othman and his friends, according to court records. When Othman entered the car driven by the suspects, Valencia allegedly pistol whipped him.
Othman got out the car and ran, prosecutors said. He was pursued by Gonzales-Magallanes and a juvenile suspect, who emerged from a hiding spot in the bushes and opened fire toward Othman, prosecutors alleged. Othman was fatally shot at the scene.
After the shooting, the suspects and the people with Othman fled and left Othman’s body in the parking lot, prosecutors said.
At the time of his death, Othman was a high school senior at Carlmont High School, where he was on the varsity football team and planned to attend the College of San Mateo after graduation.
Gonzales-Magallanes was arrested in Indianapolis and extradited to San Mateo County, prosecutors said.
Wagstaffe said that one of the difficulties of the case was trying to “pinpoint who actually did fire the shots.”
“It was a very confusing scene. We had loads of young people out there, with each side looking to sort of cheat the other side in this drug deal,” Wagstaffe said. “We had loads of inconsistent statements. By that I mean people lying to us from the beginning of this case.”
Deputy District Attorney Ryan McLaughlin, the prosecutor on the case, called it a “sheer tragedy” at the hearing.
“The present case resulted in the end of a very young life,” McLaughlin said. “A good person, a good son, a good brother.”
The family of Othman was present at the hearing and declined to speak at the hearing. McLaughlin added that the family has spoken on behalf of Othman many times already in a “full-throated manner.”
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“The court certainly respects the fact you are here for this,” Dunleavy said to the family.
Gonzales-Magallanes was also ordered to pay restitution, but the amount has not yet been determined.
Valencia, who remains in custody, is next set to appear in court Oct. 14 for a pretrial conference.