MURRIETA – A U.S. Border Patrol agent who fatally shot a man during an off-duty noise-related confrontation near his Hemet home was sentenced today to 40 years to life in state prison.

John Richard Demery, 42, was convicted in January of second-degree murder for gunning down 27-year-old Adam Thomas of Moreno Valley in the predawn hours of Nov. 8, 2014.

Along with the murder count, the Murrieta jury also convicted Demery of sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Monterosso imposed the sentence required by law.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant had been disturbed on several occasions by a vehicle peeling out and racing through his neighborhood in the area of Cornell Street and Toledo Drive.

The patrolman was first bothered by the noise on the evening of Nov. 7, 2014, and called Hemet police, who told him they would handle it, prosecutors said.

About 12:45 a.m. on Nov. 8, the defendant heard the sounds again and decided to investigate, taking his flashlight, camera phone and personal handgun, later telling investigators that he anticipated trouble.

Demery wanted to take a picture of the license plate of the car causing the disturbance, prosecutors said. Instead, he ended up in a heated verbal altercation with Thomas, who had parked his car on Cornell. During the argument, Demery pulled his pistol and shot Thomas five times, investigators said.

According to prosecutors, Thomas was unarmed but had taken a fighting stance — though he never swung or tried to get physical with the defendant.

The victim died at a hospital a short time later, and Demery was taken into custody without incident.

He was placed on unpaid indefinite suspension following the shooting. According to the Department of Homeland Security, termination proceedings are underway.

DHS officials said that Demery was an agent for six years, working much of that time at the Border Patrol’s Murrieta station.

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