The day the court handled the case against 34 year-old Anderson Figaroa, three weeks ago, he was free. While the friend who covered for him was locked up. One of the accused in that case, Jairo Morales, was declared innocent, and Shawn Murray was declared guilty. In Anderson Figaroa’s case, no immediate decision was made, and he was set to return to court on April 12th to hear the verdict.
He was charged as an accessory to possession of a firearm for which a sentence of 24 months was requested. He committed the offense right after leaving KIA, where he had served several years for a violent crime. During the prosecution’s argument, it was requested that if he pleaded guilty, an immediate arrest order should be issued. However, that was not necessary because by the end of the same week of his trial, he was arrested during a raid.
Police stopped a car after receiving reports of suspicious behavior. The three defendants were in the car with Figaroa’s friend. Police took action when they saw one of the individuals in the car attempting to hide something. Upon further investigation, authorities found a 9mm gun, drugs, pills, etc. Murray claimed they belonged to him.
There was suspicion that the gun belonged to Figaroa, but Murray took full responsibility. Initially, he said he sometimes holds guns for Figaroa, but later retracted that statement.
However, when it was found that Figaroa was guilty of possessing the firearm, several factors played a role. He read various legal explanations indicating that this man could be guilty of the mentioned offense. But also, the video that the prosecution presented showed how Murray was filmed from behind in the car, handling the gun, and at one point he turned around. They also used Murray’s own statement that he acted as Figaroa’s bodyguard, which justified him carrying the weapon.
What played a role in the punishment was that this was not the first time Figaroa had gotten himself involved with the law. To make matters worse, during his probationary period, he received 18 months and an arrest order, despite already being locked up.
In addition to this punishment, there is another ongoing investigation against him for his latest arrest.
