Slaughters Sentenced

Monday, February 23, 2009
By JOHN F. BERRY
The Press-Enterprise
SAN BERNARDINO - The patriarch of a San Bernardino crime family was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison Monday for his role in dissuading a witness from testifying against his son.

Keith Slaughter Sr., 41, said nothing during a brief appearance before Judge Ronald Christianson in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

He had accepted the plea agreement Feb. 6 in the witness intimidation case and another case involving two drug charges.

The sentencing ends the Slaughter family's connection to a San Bernardino-based gang that authorities say has terrorized a Westside neighborhood for years.

"This was a major setback for the gang," Deputy District Attorney Lisa Rogan said. "This was a big step forward for the community."

Slaughter is the father of Keith Slaughter Jr., 21, who was sentenced Aug. 12 to 295 years to life in prison on 20 charges -- including 11 for attempted murder and one for the drive-by killing of Jarred Mitchell, 14, on May 23, 2006.

The wife and mother of the two men, Julie Slaughter, 39, also accepted a plea agreement Feb. 6 and was sent to prison for six years on a bribery conviction.

In a 2007 hearing, evidence emerged that the Slaughter parents tried to help their son by intimidating witnesses and selling drugs to pay for a lawyer.

Outside the courtroom on Monday, Rogan said the Slaughter parents provided places for gang members to hide and got rid of weapons. She said their behavior rubbed off on their son.

"Keith Slaughter Jr. followed that lifestyle as a child," she said. "This is the result you get when a family supports and encourages violence in the community."

Keith Slaughter Jr. was convicted of one murder and suspected in at least three other killings, the prosecutor said.

"The community was in such fear that no one was willing to put their life on the line to bring those crimes forward," Rogan said.

Court records show that the parents denied any wrongdoing by their son or any connections to a gang. Detectives have said previously that the younger Slaughter belongs to the gang his father founded.

JinkyRctongs wrote:Ive always wondered who this family was? Are they a gang or a crime family or what, they seem to be like some of the families weve got here