GONZALES — Tele Matangi, 37, of Pittsburg, was sentenced to 150 years to life in prison on May 29 after being found guilty by a jury of multiple charges arising from a daylong crime spree in September 2023.
Matangi was convicted of carjacking, attempted carjacking, residential burglary, first-degree robbery, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle, being a violent felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a controlled substance with a firearm and hit and run. The jury also found true that Matangi personally used a firearm during the commission of many of these offenses.
On Sept. 18, 2023, Matangi drove in the Gonzales High parking lot when he crashed through a locked gate near the stadium, damaging it. He abandoned his vehicle near the school, and then carjacked a nearby driver at gunpoint, driving the stolen vehicle northbound to Highway 156 near its intersection with Highway 101 in the Prunedale area…