Three inmates who escaped from the Merced County Jail are on their way to state prison
Three inmates who escaped from the Merced County Jail earlier this year each received an eight-year prison sentence Tuesday after pleading no contest, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office reported in a news release.
Fabian Roman, Andres Nunes-Rodriguez, and Gabriel Coronado were convicted of escape by force or violence and admitted a gang involvement, Merced prosecutors said in the statement.
They were part of a group of six inmates who escaped from the Downtown Merced County Jail on Jan. 9 by cutting through a ceiling vent, climbing onto the roof, and repelling down the building with a homemade rope of bed sheets.
Roman, of Los Banos, and Nunez-Rodriguez, of Planada, were apprehended in San Ysidro when they tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Coronado, of Atwater, was apprehended in Livingston by the Merced County Sheriff’s STAR team.
In addition to the escape charges, Nunez-Rodriguez was convicted of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, gun enhancement, and two counts of shooting into an inhabited dwelling. Nunez-Rodriguez was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison.
Coronado was convicted of assault with a firearm, gun enhancement, and shooting into an inhabited dwelling. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Roman was serving 25 years to life for murder charges.
Fellow escapee Edgar Ventura previously pleaded no contest plea and received the same eight-year prison sentence.
Ventura surrendered to police in Firebaugh a few days after the escape. The charges against Ventura, of Portland, were being a felon in possession of a firearm, criminal street gang participation, and violating probation.
This story was originally published July 13, 2021 at 6:48 PM.
