Lehto gets 6 years in jail death

His punch killed another inmate

Trevor Lehto was sentenced Thursday to six years in state prison in connection with a jail death two years ago.

Lehto, 24, of Crescent City was also fined $1,670 for a voluntary manslaughter charge he pleaded guilty to as part of a deal offered by District Attorney Jon Alexander.

Lehto originally faced a second-degree murder charge after Alexander convinced a local judge  that Lehto acted in a manner he knew to be life-threatening when he struck 33-year-old Jose Rios.

Rios hit his head on the concrete floor of the gym in the Del Norte County Jail in October 2010 and later died from head trauma.

Rios’ aunt, Laura Rainwater, spoke at Lehto’s sentencing hearing Thursday.

“There’s no reason to smile today,” said Rainwater. “I think it’s sad Jose Rios didn’t get to live his life.”

Rainwater also thanked Carlene Lacy for showing support by attending the hearing. The two hugged and talked afterward.

Lacy is the mother of 15-year-old Josh Lacy, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 2007. Lehto  faced charges in 2010 in connection with the boy’s death, but they were dismissed after several expired under the statute of limitations and as a part of a plea deal offered by then-District Attorney Mike Riese for another defendant in the case.

Lehto’s altercation with Rios took place about two weeks after a majority of the charges in the Lacy case were ruled to have expired.

Rainwater said that six years for taking Rios’ life wasn’t enough.

“I’m not happy about it all,” she said, adding of Lehto, “He’s always been a menace to this society.”

Alexander said he offered the plea deal after reviewing a similar case in San Diego of a man who was convicted of second-degree murder after striking another man, only to have the ruling overturned by a state Court of Appeals decision that deemed there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the assailant knew a single punch would kill the victim.

“I looked at the family of Jose Rios and Carlene Lacy and I’m saddened we could not get more time on Mr. Lehto for his latest act of violence,” Alexander said after the hearing. “That said, we played the cards we had and we got the most we could out of them.”

Lehto received 510 days of credit for time served, and will be on parole for four years after serving his term.

According to a pre-sentencing investigation report, “This offense is only one in a long list of convictions on the defendant’s record for dangerous and violent actions.  The defendant has lived a constant criminal lifestyle since his teens, initially being placed on juvenile probation, then moving on to numerous convictions for misdemeanors and felonies as an adult. He has demonstrated that he is not amenable to any kind of treatment or assistance in making a life change by violating every grant of probation or parole that he has been given.”

Lehto’s behavior during his past incarceration was also referenced in the report.

He has had 44 reported disciplinary incidents during jail stints from 2006 to November 2011, the report said. They included eight for having contraband, two for tattooing and five for fighting or assaulting someone.

He was disciplined for several instances of misconduct and causing a disruption, including an outburst against a jail correctional officer “when he did not get his peanut butter sandwich,” the report stated.

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