By Marilyn Napier / Skagit Valley Herald
MOUNT VERNON — Prosecutors plan to seek a higher-than-normal prison sentence if a suspect is convicted on charges stemming from a pair of Dec. 15 shootings that wounded Mount Vernon police officer Mike McClaughry and another man.
Austin Gonzales, 16, is being charged as an adult with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault with a firearm for allegedly shooting a man in the neck in the area of North LaVenture Road in Mount Vernon.
According to court documents, prosecutors will seek a high sentence for Gonzales if he is convicted because they believe the crimes he allegedly committed were gang related.
According to court documents, the minimum sentence for the charges would be 20 years in prison. The maximum sentence would be life imprisonment and/or a $50,000 fine.
Gonzales currently has a trial date set for July 5.
Ernesto Rivas, 44, who is being charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder for the same shootings and who reportedly shot McClaughry, had his trial date moved to Sept. 11, according to court documents.
The previous trial date was set for early June with Gonzales as a co-defendant. The two cases will now have separate trials.
A third defendant involved in the shootings, a 15-year-old boy, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and fourth-degree assault.
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