A former gang member was sentenced to 17 years in state prison Tuesday as part of a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office that required him to testify about how he and several co-defendants conspired to carry out what became one of the worst mass shootings in Long Beach history.
As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Joshua Sam admitted to being a getaway driver in the plot that killed three people and wounded nine others in the backyard of a Halloween-themed birthday party in the Rose Park neighborhood on the night of Oct. 29, 2019.
Sam pleaded no contest last year to reduced charges of three counts of voluntary manslaughter and three counts of attempted murder for his role, and at his sentencing hearing Tuesday, a judge commended him for complying with his “end of the bargain.”
She said, however, that though it was a big step toward redemption, and 17 years was a fair sentence, she hoped Sam always remembered the devastation he and the gang caused that night.