By Mike Cruz

San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. — Two Riverside men were sentenced to state prison Friday for attempted murder in the 2013 shooting of a Chino corrections officer who stopped at a gas station in Colton.

Anthony Gomez, 36, was sentenced to 38 years to life, and Christopher Marquez, 29, was sentenced to 34 years to life during a hearing at the San Bernardino Justice Center, according to a San Bernardino County District Attorney’s news release. A jury found both men guilty of attempted murder in June 2017 and found true allegations that a gun was used and there was great bodily injury causing paralysis.

Christopher Marquez, left, was sentenced to 34 years to life, and Anthony Gomez was sentenced to 38 years to life. (Photo/California DOC)

The corrections officer was on his way to work at California Institution for Men in Chino when he stopped for gas shortly before 9 p.m. May 2, 2013, at a Shell station in the 2700 block of Iowa Avenue, in Colton, said Supervising Deputy District Attorney Cecilia Joo, who prosecuted the case, in a news release.

Marquez and Gomez, who had been drinking at a nearby club stopped at the same gas station, according to Joo. They parked in front of the officer’s truck which was in the middle of the island.

The officer, whose identity was not released for his safety, was pumping gas when Marquez and Gomez started asking him for directions.

“For some unknown reason, defendant Marquez, who was in the front passenger seat, got out and unloaded his six-shot revolver at the victim,” Joo said, in the release. “Marquez then immediately jumped back into the car driven by defendant Gomez and fled the scene.”

Marquez and Gomez were later arrested in Riverside by police.

Colton police officers responded to the gas station and saw the corrections officer motionless on the ground. The officer was shot in the head but was able to reveal his corrections patches to police.

Colton police loaded the officer into a patrolcar and took him to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, according to the release. The corrections officer underwent several surgeries and rehabilitation, and he was ultimately paralyzed on his left side and had a metal plate inserted into his head. He could not walk or speak for months.

Since then, he has regained limited ability to walk and speak. The officer and his wife were present in court during the complete trial, the news release stated.

Gomez was previously housed at the Chino prison. Court records show Gomez was sentenced to 11 years in Chino in 2001 for a robbery and assault with a deadly weapon that occurred in July 2000.

The judge ordered Gomez sent to the Chino prison, but he was released on parole in March 2012. His parole ended in March 2013.

©2018 the San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.)