Friends and family greet the recently released women detainees after six months of lockup. Image credit: @thejustice8_officialpage (Instagram)
More than half a year after the arrest of eight street vendor activists, six of the defendants took a plea deal with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
The group known as the Victorville 8, who also refers to themselves as the Justice 8, was apprehended in late December 2023, with all defendants initially held without bail. Since they were first taken into custody, only one of the individuals, Gullit Acevedo, was granted permission to post bail.
The group faced charges which included assault, conspiracy, false imprisonment and kidnapping. During a court hearing held on June 7, six of the eight defendants pled guilty to a single felony count in Superior Court in Victorville.
As per the plea bargains announced by Superior Court Judge John M. Wilkerson, the three women detainees, Wendy Lujan, Vanessa Carrasco and Stephanie Amesquita, were given a sentence of 353 days in county jail. Each was credited for time served, amounting to 353 days, and was released that same day.
The remaining detainees remained in custody as of last Friday, with three of them, David Chavez, Edwin Peña, and Fernando Lopez, sentenced to two years in state prison, with one year of credit for time served to be subtracted from that term.
Acevedo's case is presently in the pre-trial phase and was not included in the plea deals made with the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office.
Additionally, Edin “Alex” Enamorado, outright rejected the plea deal presented to him. Enamorado has long been labeled as the leader of the detainees, primarily due to his large social media presence and watchdog activism tactics.
In a public statement posted on Enamorado’s social media, the activist claims that he was presented with a “ridiculous deal” and that he planned to take his case to trial. It also appears that Enamorado is seeking new legal counsel and will no longer be represented by criminal defense attorney Nicholas Rosenberg. Enamorado has previously stated that he would reject any deal that involves jail time.
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