Moses Lake man's 55 year sentence for murder upheld

By EMRY DINMAN

Staff Writer

SPOKANE - A Moses Lake man who was previously sentenced to 55 years in prison for shooting and killing a man outside of Airport Grocery on Patton Boulevard in 2013 has had his sentence upheld by the state court of appeals.

Anthony Rene Vasquez was previously convicted in 2015 of first-degree aggravated murder, with an aggravator of drive-by shooting, three counts of drive-by shooting, tampering with a witness and unlawful possession of firearm in connection with the September 2013 murder of Juan Garcia, 22. Vasquez was sentenced to life in prison without parole by Judge John Antosz in February 2016.

Vasquez’ case was sent back to Grant County for resentencing following a Washington Court of Appeals decision relating to the drive-by shooting convictions. On the day of the murder Vasquez arrived at the Patton Boulevard business in a Toyota pickup truck, which was parked on the side of the store 63 feet away from where Garcia was shot and killed.

In the moments before the shooting Vasquez left the Toyota hidden behind a utility fence, rushed Garcia, who was sitting in the passenger seat of a SUV, and shot him at point-blank range. Washington law dictates that a drive-by shooting has to occur inside a vehicle, or in the immediate area surrounding the vehicle. As a result, appeals court judges in 2018 reversed the drive-by shooting convictions, due to Vasquez leaving the Toyota and the 63 feet he had to traverse to reach Garcia in the SUV. Because the drive-by shooting aggravator was dismissed, when Vasquez was resentenced he was sentenced for non-aggravated first-degree murder, which carries with it a term sentence, opposed to a life sentence.

Vasquez’ 2018 sentence involved him pleading guilty to first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and tampering with a witness. Judge John Antosz imposed an exceptional sentence above the standard range of confinement for each of the three counts and Vasquez was sentenced a total of 55 years in prison, with credit for time served. A count of second-degree murder-armed with a firearm was dismissed due to the double jeopardy clause, which prohibits a person from being prosecuted twice for the same crime.

Vasquez again appealed his sentence, arguing that a clerical error made it unclear how many months he was being sentenced for, and requested resentencing. While the appeals court acknowledged that a clerical mistake was made, and requested it be fixed, it denied his motion for resentencing.

“My response team Kate Matthews and Kevin McCrae did an excellent job in brief, and the conviction was justified,” said Grant County Prosecutor Garth Dano, who led the prosecution of Vasquez in 2015. “Like many appeals, the defense has nothing to lose by appealing, especially for so long of a sentence, so we’re grateful that the court of appeals saw that there was no error made by the court.”