LAREDO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A U.S. district judge sentenced an imprisoned McAllen man to serve additional time in prison after a physical altercation that left one person in a “vegetative state,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Antonio Cristian-Martinez, 22, of McAllen, pleaded guilty in connection to attacking an inmate with punches and kicks to the head and body in November, the U.S Attorney’s Office stated Wednesday in a news release.
Gilbert Arevalo, 26; and Jamie Pecina, 25; from Laredo and Orlando Flores-Duke, 27, from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, also pleaded guilty for their roles in the assault.
Before his conviction of assault, Cristian-Martinez was serving a 97-month prison sentence for an unrelated case.
The group left the victim “severely injured and unconscious on the ground,” according to the news release.
At the court hearing Wednesday, the victim’s family said their lives were “changed forever” as a result of the assault, according to the news release.
During the court hearing, the four men in custody awaited their sentences for various charges at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo.
All four will remain in custody pending a transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
