'Cowards' Sentenced for Savage Giants Fan Beating

Prosecutor: Pair got off easy
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2014 12:33 AM CST
'Cowards' Sentenced for Giants Fan Beating
Evin Collins and Bonnie Stow, sisters of beating victim Bryan Stow, are seen during yesterday's hearing.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

"You are the biggest nightmare for individuals who attend public events," an angry judge told two LA Dodgers fans yesterday before sentencing them for a savage, unprovoked attack outside Dodger stadium in 2011 that left San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow permanently disabled. The judge called Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood "complete cowards" for sucker-punching Stow, a 45-year-old paramedic and father of two, and kicking him as he lay on the ground, reports the Los Angeles Times. Under a plea deal, the men were sentenced to eight and four years in prison, respectively.

Stow's sister—one of the family members who has been caring for him daily since he came home after two years in hospitals and rehab facilities—told the men they "got off easy," and the prosecutor agreed, calling the sentences "frustrating," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The sentences are light, considering that Stow is "serving a life sentence in a wheelchair and diaper," she said, but they are close to the maximum they would have gotten if convicted at trial because the facts of the case don't support attempted murder charges. If Stow dies of his injuries, however, the prosecutor says she plans to pursue murder charges. (More Bryan Stow stories.)

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