A judge handed down a 27-year prison term April 16 to the man who was convicted of stabbing a Chula Vista man multiple times over a business matter.
Brandon Pabilona Ancho, 37, will have to serve 85 percent of the 27-year term before he is eligible for parole in the stabbing of Julian Cruz, said Deputy District Attorney Matthew Williams.
A jury convicted him Feb. 24 of attempted murder of Cruz in the Feb. 1, 2014, incident in Cruz’s home in the 300 block of East James Street in Chula Vista.
The jury also convicted him of felony assault and burglary, but deadlocked 6-6 over whether he tried to kill Cruz’s wife, who was not injured.
Ancho was sentenced to two years less than the maximum sentence by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Edward Allard III. Ancho’s attorney asked for an 18-year sentence. He received credit for serving approximately 390 days in jail.
Williams said Ancho has a prior conviction for battery with substantial bodily harm which doubled the sentence for attempted murder. Allard imposed three years consecutively for the victim suffering great bodily injury.
Ancho’s mother was the business partner of the victim in an adult daycare type of business and Ancho confronted Julian Cruz at knifepoint on his belief that his family was not receiving enough profit. Ancho worked for Julian Cruz for awhile and called the victims “auntie and uncle,” though they are not related, said Williams.
The jury deliberated one and a half days before saying they were deadlocked on the counts involving Cruz’s wife and a mistrial was declared on those charges, which were later dismissed.
Ancho confronted Cruz after walking through an unlocked front door and stabbed Cruz in the abdomen and chest. Ancho fled the scene and was arrested two days later where he lived in Spring Valley.
