A 37-year-old convicted felon who shot at a motorist in Mecca and brandished his gun at a witness during a street confrontation was bound for state prison Friday to serve 10 years and eight months behind bars.
Joseph Marco Federico Jr. of Mecca pleaded guilty last month to gun assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm. In exchange for his admissions, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office dropped two related charges, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations, against Federico.
During Thursday’s hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Superior Court Judge John Ryan certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense.
According to Sgt. David Aldrich of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, on the afternoon of March 5, 2023, Federico was involved in an unspecified dispute with a man at the wheel of a car stopped near the intersection of Lincoln and Seventh streets.
Aldrich said the defendant pulled a handgun during the confrontation and opened fire at the car, whose 47-year-old driver, identified only as a Coachella Valley man, was not hit.
Federico then pointed his gun at another man who had observed the shooting, prompting the witness to flee. The man was not hurt.
Federico fled the location before patrol deputies arrived. However, the sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit identified him as the perpetrator less than a week later. He was taken into custody without incident on the night of March 14, not far from where the attack occurred.
The defendant was in possession of the gun used in the shooting, according to authorities.
His prior convictions in Riverside County were not listed.