A Mabton man was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for a shooting that wounded a man in 2020.
Rudy Anthony Peralez, 43, had entered an Alford plea in December to a charge of first-degree assault. The plea allows Peralez to maintain his innocence while conceding that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him had he gone to trial.
In return for his plea, prosecutors dropped a deadly weapons enhancement that would have added five years to his sentence, as well as charges of drive-by shooting and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
The last charge was based on Peralez’s prior convictions for two counts each of residential burglary and second-degree burglary. He also has a prior conviction for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
The sentence, which Yakima County Superior Court Judge Richard Bartheld imposed March 25, was near the upper end of the sentencing range of 8.5 to 11.3 years.
Peralez has been free on bail since shortly after his arrest in the April 12, 2020, shooting in Mabton.
Sheriff’s deputies went to the 500 block of East B Street around 11 a.m. for a gunshot victim. Witnesses said Peralez pulled up to the house, got out and yelled a threat at the victim before shooting him in the back when he ran, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The incident was also captured by surveillance cameras at Mabton High School, the affidavit said.
Peralez then got back in the car, which had rolled across the street, and drove off, the affidavit said. The victim was taken to Kadlec Medical Center in Richland.
At the sentencing hearing, Bartheld advised Peralez to take advantage of programs in prison that would help him adapt to prison life as well as prepare him for a return to society.
“Use your skills for volunteering to serve others, and you’ll find the time will go quickly,” Bartheld said.
