MCSO

Fifteen years for Scott Bass?

​Yesterday, Scott Bass was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and child abuse charges for locking his 14-year-old daughter in a bathroom for more than two months.

Per his plea deal, Bass faced up to 17 years in prison -- and New Times readers apparently weren't too fond of the 15-year sentence he received.

See our story on Bass' sentencing -- and our readers' comments -- here.

Given the circumstances of Bass' case -- barely feeding the girl, beating her with metal rods, forcing her to exercise to the point of exhaustion, leaving a bucket of urine in the bathroom with her, etc. -- it's pretty easy to say "throw away the key."

But Bass is so sorry he tortured his daughter and just wishes he could tell her how sorry he really is (he says while standing in front of a judge, mind you).


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James Ray is scheduled to be sentenced today after being found guilty of three counts of negligent homicide.

​Oprah-approved "self-help" guru James Arthur Ray will be sentenced today after a jury found him responsible for the deaths of three people during a 2009 sweat lodge ceremony near Sedona.

Ray, who in September was convicted of three counts of negligent homicide, faces anything from probation to nine years in prison for the deaths of 49-year-old Liz Neuman, 38-year-old Kirby Brown, and 40-year-old James Shore.

See our coverage of Ray's death lodge here.

According to court documents obtained by New Times, Ray -- the leader of the "Spiritual Warrior" self-help retreat -- discouraged participants from leaving the sweat lodge, even as some were throwing up and passing out.

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"Baseline Killer" Mark Goudeau wants a jury to show him mercy.

​Convicted "Baseline Killer" Mark Goudeau yesterday addressed the jury that will ultimately decide whether he lives or dies. The killer of nine -- who terrorized Phoenix residents for nearly a year -- asked for mercy.

Goudeau was convicted of 67 felonies last month, including nine murders. He already is serving a 438-year prison sentence for attacking two sisters in Phoenix in 2005.

See New Times' cover story on the "Baseline Killer" case, Waiting for Goudeau, here.

Goudeau, however, claims he's not the monster prosecutors painted him as during his trial, and that his life should be spared.  

"They assassinated my character. They painted me as a monster," Goudeau told jurors. "I am no monster. Mark Goudeau is no monster. I am no monster."

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Police say Larissa Garcia Killed her 79-year-old husband for "financial reason."

​A Phoenix woman is heading to the big house after pleading guilty to charges that she killed her 79-year-old husband -- before dumping his body on an Indian reservation and setting it on fire -- back in 2005.

Larissa Garcia's late husband, Daniel Garcia, was the father of at least 30 children, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Garcia pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of manslaughter. This morning, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison -- the maximum sentence -- by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kristin Hoffman.

Daniel Garcia, Larissa Garcia's husband of 10 years, was last seen on May 2005.

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Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau is one step closer to his (presumed) execution.

​The jury has reached a verdict in the "aggravation phase" of Baseline Killer Mark Goudeau's trial, finding that aggravating factors in the case were proven -- which means the man who terrorized the streets of Phoenix for nearly a year could face the death penalty.

The trial now heads to the penalty phase, where Goudeau's defense team can present "testimony and evidence to try to show by a preponderance of the evidence that mitigating factors exist that are sufficiently substantial to call for leniency," Maricopa Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Arra says.

In other words, Goudeau's attorney's can tell sob stories about Goudeau to the jury in an attempt to get them to spare his life.

Goudeau, however, told Judge Warren Granville that he didn't want to be in the courtroom for the penalty phase of his trial, and Arra tells New Times he wasn't present for today's ruling.

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MCSO

Blake Adams has no idea why he shot his girlfriend's cousin. The PCP he'd been smoking that day might have something to do with it.

​Blake Obadiah Adams, the Phoenix man who fatally shot his girlfriend's cousin on Valentine's day after celebrating the day of romance by smoking PCP, was sentenced to prison time today after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge William Brotherton sentenced Adams to 16 years in prison for murdering Maxwell Henley -- for no apparent reason -- in front of his girlfriend's house on February 14.

According to court documents obtained by New Times, Adams' girlfriend -- who is the victim's cousin -- said she heard a gunshot outside of her home in the 1600 block of West Cocopah Street in Phoenix. She went outside to see what was going on and saw Adams standing over Henley with the pistol.

She then saw him fire several more rounds into Henley, and then drop the pistol to the ground.

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Tommy Reed was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

​Tommy McKey Reed was in a Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where Judge Paul McMurdie sentenced him to life in prison for the 2010 murder of a man he met through a gay social networking app for his iPhone.

Reed pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree murder in the death of 54-year-old Mark G. Woodland, a man he met, as we mentioned, through a gay social networking iPhone app.

Woodland was found dead at his apartment in the 3800 block of East Greenway Road in Phoenix on April 24, 2010.

Police say Woodland's roommate returned home to the apartment the men shared about 11 p.m. on the night of the murder and noticed that the place had been ransacked.

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MCSO

Richard Sangalang...R.N.

​Male nurse Richard Sangalang was in a Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where he was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to one count of luring a minor for sex via the Internet.

The minor, as is often the case with pervs who like to meet kids online, was actually a cop.

According to court documents obtained by New Times, Sangalang, a male nurse at Banner Hospital, was arrested in February as he attempted to meet a person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl for sex. As we mentioned, that "girl" was actually a cop.

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Peter Normann's headed to prison.

​Peter Normann, the Anthem doctor convicted of murder in the deaths of two of his patients, and manslaughter in the death of another, was in a Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where he was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison.

Normann's sentencing hearing was delayed last week because one of his attorneys had a family emergency.

Judge Paul McMurdie sentenced Normann to 10 years in prison for each of the murder convictions, and five years in prison for the manslaughter charge. The sentences will run consecutively.

Normann was convicted in July of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter in the deaths of Ralph Gonzalez, 33, Leslie Ann Ray, 53, and Alicia Santizo Blanco, 41, each patients of Normann's who suffered complications after botched plastic surgery procedures.
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Bryan Stewart a.k.a. Rick Valentini

​Rick Valentini -- a.k.a. Bryan Stewart was in a Maricopa County Superior Court this afternoon, where he was found guilty of 29 counts of forgery, four counts of identity theft, four counts of misconduct involving a weapon, two counts of money laundering, and one count of posession of a forged device -- and he still has a murder trial to look forward to.

Forgery and identity theft aside, Valentini/Stewart is also charged with second-degree murder in the apparent death of ex-girlfriend Jamie Jean Laiaddee, 32.

We say "apparent" because police never found the body.

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