Thursday, May 10, 2001

Man sentenced to prison for role in Cramm gunplay

By Scott North

Herald Writer

A man who admitted trading gunshots during a deadly May 2000 melee in south Everett was sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday by a Snohomish County judge who said he shares some responsibility for the deaths of two young men.

John Michael Jauregui, 25, earlier pleaded guilty to a single count of felony riot after admitting he shot an AK-47 when a fistfight between Dennis Cramm, 18, and another teen escalated into gunplay.

Cramm is serving 60 years in prison after being convicted of murdering Jason Thompson and Jesse Stoner, both 18. They died when the car they were riding in was riddled by bullets that Cramm fired from one of his father's military style SKS rifles.

Jauregui admitted that he traded shots with another man at the scene that night, but no evidence surfaced that he hit anyone. Instead, there was ample evidence Jauregui helped introduce drugs and weapons into the mix that night, and "thought of himself as some modern-day action hero setting up an armed camp," Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Linda Krese said.

She sentenced him to a year in jail, the top punishment under state sentencing guidelines.

It appears that Jauregui will serve the time behind bars because corrections officials have determined he is not a good candidate for work release, the judge was told.

Jauregui was a key witness in the double-murder investigation, leading police to the AK-47 he fired and the SKS that Cramm admitted shooting. Jauregui initially had hid the evidence and was uncooperative with detectives, in part because he had misplaced loyalty to the Cramm family, defense attorney Ken Lee said.

Ballistic tests later showed that the bullets found in Stoner and Thompson's bodies all came from the rifle Cramm admitted shooting.

Under an agreement reached with prosecutors, Jauregui testified at Cramm's trial. Deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said Jauregui had kept up his end of the pact, and prosecutors stuck to an agreed recommendation that he be allowed to serve his time in work release.

"I did provide key evidence and testimony, with disregard to my personal safety," Jauregui told the judge.

But Krese also was told that county corrections officials felt Jauregui's crime didn't make him a good risk to serve his time, working out of the jail during the day, but locked up at night. Jauregui also acknowledged that he is recently unemployed.

The judge ordered him to begin serving his time immediately.

"I think there is much for Mr. Jauregui to answer for," she said.