A man who provided assistance to his friend accused of gunning down a 44-year-old Indio resident during a confrontation on the east end of the city pleaded guilty Friday to being an accessory after the fact and was immediately sentenced to 16 months in Riverside County jail.
Isaac Anthony Martinez, 21, admitted the felony count during his arraignment Friday before Superior Court Judge Arthur Hester at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. No charges were dismissed. The judge imposed the stipulated sentence, which will be served at the nearby Benoit Detention Center.
Martinez’s co-defendant, 21-year-old Efren David Bracamonte, is charged with murder and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations in the 2022 slaying of Steven Matthew Sanchez.
Bracamonte is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail and is slated to appear for a felony settlement conference on Dec. 10 at the Indio courthouse.
He and Martinez were arrested in September following a years-long investigation by the Indio Police Department.
Bracamonte allegedly killed Sanchez on Dec. 23, 2022.
According to Indio police Sgt. Abe Plata, the defendant and Sanchez were involved in an unspecified dispute in the predawn hours at a residence in the 45900 block of Grace Street, near Highway 111.
Plata and court documents allege Bracamonte pulled a handgun and fired multiple rounds, gravely wounding the victim. The defendant then allegedly fled, with Martinez’s assistance, according to prosecutors.
Paramedics pronounced Sanchez dead at the scene minutes later.
Homicide detectives spent the ensuing 32 months developing leads, rechecking evidence and witnesses, ultimately identifying Bracamonte as the alleged shooter and Martinez as the other implicated party, Plata said.
The latter defendant was taken into custody after a search warrant was served at a property on Jefferson Street in Indio on Sept. 5. A warrant was served on Bracamonte five days later on Las Flores Way in Thousand Palms, where he was taken into custody without incident.
Martinez had no documented prior adult felony convictions in Riverside County. There’s also no record of convictions for Bracamonte.