A Chula Vista man was sentenced May 24 to 37 years in prison for killing a South Bay man in 2012 who was mistakenly thought to be a rival gang member.
Salvador Cuellar, 30, was the last person sentenced for the slaying of Hector Arce, 36, of Imperial Beach, that occurred Jan. 28, 2012.
Salvador was also the last person arrested among four people prosecuted and he received credits for spending 2 1/5 years in jail since his Oct., 2014 arrest by the sheriff’s department and the East County Gang Task Force.
Cuellar pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and admitted to using a gun in the crime, which added 10 years to the sentence.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Reizen said Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag doubled the manslaughter term of 11 years because of his previous robbery conviction. He also got five years consecutively for having the prior conviction.
Two co-defendants, Reyes Michael Cruz, 28, and Adrian Ernesto Lopez, 22, both of Chula Vista, also pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Lopez, who was 17 at the time, received six years in prison.
Cruz was sentenced to 21 years by Judge Garry Haehnle because he also admitted a gang allegation and has a prior record of two felony convictions, said Reizen.
The prosecutor said a restitution hearing will be held and it was expected that Cuellar, Lopez, and Cruz would share any costs of funeral and burial expenses.
A fourth person, Shelly Villalobos, 27, of Imperial Beach, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2015.
Arce and the defendants did not know each other. He was shot five times in the head and neck.
