Two Orange County jail inmates were convicted Thursday in connection with an attack on a fellow prisoner, whose throat was slashed with a razor blade.
Richard Molina, 35, was convicted of attempted murder, battery with serious bodily injury and possession of a weapon in custody, all felonies. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for premeditated attempted murder and personal use of a deadly weapon, inflicting great bodily injury.
Co-defendant Steven Allen Ramos, 27, was convicted of being an accessory after the fact and possession of a weapon in custody, both felonies.
Molina slashed the neck of the victim during a brawl in the Theo Lacy Jail in Orange on Oct. 14, 2015. The victim required stitches.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 29.
Their prior criminal convictions will factor into the punishment. Molina has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2002 in Orange County according to the criminal complaint filed against him. He was taken into custody most recently in January 2015 when he was charged with theft. He pleaded guilty May 5, 2015, to buying or receiving a stolen vehicle or equipment with a prior felony, failing to stop at a hit-and-run accident with injury or death, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest, and was sentenced to three years behind bars.
Molina pleaded guilty in April 2013 to theft with a prior felony conviction of driving or taking of vehicle, buying or receiving a stolen vehicle or equipment and evading police, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance, hit-and-run with property damage and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records.
He was sentenced to two years and eight months in that case.
In August 2010, Molina was sentenced to 16 months in prison for stealing a car, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty to being a gang member carrying a concealed gun in a vehicle in November 2002 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Ramos pleaded guilty Feb. 24, 2012, to a felony count of possessing a gun while in probation and a misdemeanor count of grossly negligent discharge of a gun. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, according to jail records.
–City News Service