FRANKLIN Cepeda pled guilty to the charge of strangulation on April 13, 2021 and was sentenced by Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio to seven years’ imprisonment but with six years suspended.
The remaining one year “shall be served day for day without the possibility of parole,” the judge added. Cepeda was also given credit for time served — 89 days.
The judge said Cepeda will also be placed on five years of probation after serving his sentence and will submit to examinations and evaluations at the Community Guidance Center.
According to the factual basis for plea, Cepeda, on Jan. 11, 2021, willfully and unlawfully strangled or attempted to strangle a household member.
In related news, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho vacated Cepeda’s jury trial scheduled for April 14, 2021.
In that case, Cepeda was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, disturbing the peace, and interfering with a domestic violence report.
Judge Camacho vacated the trial after the Attorney General’s Office dismissed the case as part of Cepeda’s plea agreement in the strangulation case.
The victim in both cases was Cepeda’s girlfriend.
The victim told the police that Cepeda “gets jealous and gets too controlling and sometimes won’t let her out of their room.”
She had previously reported Cepeda to the police for hitting her.
