Convicted killer gets years tacked on to sentence

A South San Francisco teen already sentenced to a life term on a drug-related robbery and murder received another three years yesterday for a jail house assault committed allegedly with other gangmembers shortly after the jury returned its guilty verdict.

Jimmy Nabong, 20, pleaded no contest to felony assault and misdemeanor gang activity after having already been sentenced to 50 years to life last June for shooting Shivnesh Reddy, a 21-year-old mechanic, in the heart during a drug robbery. Nabong must first serve the three years before beginning the longer term, said prosecutor Josh Stauffer.

Although the assault sentence may pale compared to the murder, Stauffer said it is important to prosecute such cases.

"It sends a message that we don’t want individuals to think they have free reign to attack others in the jail,” Stauffer said.

The conviction will also alert state prison officials that Nabong has a history of violence in correctional facilities, he said.

A jury convicted Nabong in February 2011 in the murder case. The next month, Nabong and six other documented Norteño gangmembers were accused of attacking a fellow inmate connected to the Sureño gang as he returned to his cell from a family visit. The group reportedly rushed from a substance abuse meeting in a multi-purpose room to assault the victim, breaking free from correctional officers to continue kicking and punching at him. One of Nabong’s co-defendants, Andrew Jarome Marquez, allegedly threw one deputy to the ground and punched him in the back of the head before the situation was brought under control. Another reportedly told the officers that district attorneys never prosecute jail fights and Nabong laughed it off, saying it doesn’t matter because he’s doing life for murder anyway, Stauffer said.

In June, Daniel Rios Macias also pleaded no contest to obstruction of a peace officer and participation in a street gang and was sentenced to 16 months prison. Marquez and Michael Elijah Rodriguez have pleaded not guilty and are set for trial April 16. Charges against other suspects in the assault were dismissed at the preliminary hearing.

The jail house assault was mentioned during Nabong’s sentencing in Reddy’s death, with the prosecution in the murder case saying it cemented him as "the poster boy for life in prison without parole.” Still, Judge Craig Parson imposed the sentence "pretty reluctantly,” noting that Nabong was 17 at the time he killed Reddy on Oct. 29, 2008.

Nabong’s accomplice in the case, Neil Prakash Chand, testified for the prosecution and received 25 years to life for his role in setting up Reddy to be robbed of $3,000 worth of marijuana.

Nabong has been in custody without bail at the jail awaiting sentencing on the assault case. He can now be transported to the state Department of Corrections.

Michelle Durand can be reached by email: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.