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45 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, March 7, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 15, 2005 Stabbing case sentence: 6 years, then deportation By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune A reputed California gang member will spend nearly six years in prison for stabbing a Medford man during a street fight. Gustavo Delariva Torres, 26, received the mandatory sentence Friday under Oregon’s Measure 11 for stabbing 23-year-old Jason Torres on May 16 near the Black Bird shopping center. Delariva stabbed Torres several times in the chest with a 4-inch folding blade, police said. The knife did not penetrate Torres’ chest cavity, but he nearly bled to death from a gash that severed an artery in his left forearm, said deputy district attorney Allan Smith in Friday’s hearing in Jackson County Circuit Court. The two men are not related. Delariva and 20-year-old Jonathan Cureno fled the scene in a van. Cureno, of Montague, Calif., was arrested the following day in Ashland. He pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor assault charge in connection with the fight. But Delariva eluded police for three weeks before he was discovered working as a landscaper in Central Point. Police said Delariva moved to Medford about six months before the attack and now lists an address in the 100 block of Chestnut Street. However, Delariva is in the country illegally and will be deported after serving his sentence. Advertisement It won’t be the first time Delariva has been removed from the United States, Smith said. "He’s still here, committing crimes that nearly resulted in the death of another human being," he said. Police did not establish a motive for the attack. Delariva’s defense attorney, Bob Abel, said he believes his client was unknowingly caught up in a drug deal or gang clash and only tried to defend himself. Facing pressure from local gang members while lodged in the Jackson County Jail, Delariva declined to cooperate with prosecutors to reduce his sentence, Abel said. Torres himself was jailed on an unrelated charge of domestic assault and is currently wanted for violating probation conditions. In jail, he met Delariva, who apologized, Abel said. Before hearing his sentence of five years and 10 months, Delariva told the court that he had moved to Medford with his wife and family "to become a good man and live in peace." Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s