San Rafael gunman sentenced to 18-year prison term

A San Rafael man was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Tuesday for a street shooting three years ago in the Canal neighborhood.

Edwin Mazariegos Rodriguez, 25, pleaded guilty in May to attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He shot the victim in the back on Novato Street, authorities said.

A charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm was dismissed, according to court records. Rodriguez had been convicted of false imprisonment in 2020.

Rodriguez has been in no-bail custody at the Marin County Jail since he was arrested in July 2021. He did not speak during his sentencing hearing, where a Spanish interpreter assisted him.

Rodriguez’s defense attorney, Jon Rankin, emphasized his client’s “tragic childhood” and troubled life before Judge Geoffrey Howard announced the sentence.

Rankin said that after Rodriguez serves the sentence, “he will have a life left and will have a chance to be a person again.”

Howard wished Rodriguez luck before a bailiff escorted him out of the courtroom.

“I hope he does not cause any more damage and I hope he takes advantage of the programs available to him,” Howard said.

The crime, which police described as gang-related, happened on July 22, 2021. Rodriguez and a companion, Yordan Gonzalez Acevedo, confronted two pedestrians, and the pedestrians fled, police said.

Rodriguez took out a gun, yelled the name of one of the victims and opened fire. Investigators said he used a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office said in a criminal complaint.

Rodriguez fired two shots and hit one victim in the back, authorities said. The victim, left lying in the street, was hospitalized.

Rodriguez and Avecedo, then 18, later surrendered to police after hiding in a nearby apartment. Police also arrested Ivan Pech-Pinzon, 35 years old at the time, for allegedly concealing the attackers.

Acevedo was sentenced in 2022 to four years in prison on a conviction of assault with force likely to produce great bodily harm. Pech-Pinzon was sentenced in July to 29 days in jail for a conviction of being a criminal accessory. He also received a two-year probation term.

“It’s a tragedy all the way around,” Rankin said after Rodriguez’s sentencing.

Rankin said that his client wrote a letter and apologized for his actions and addressed his life experiences. The letter was submitted to the court, and Rankin believes it helped Rodriguez get a shorter prison sentence than had been expected.

“It caused them to look at what he’s been through as a child, incredible abuse in Honduras,” Rankin said. “It was shocking what he went through, and when you go through things like that as a young person you act out, and that’s what happens.”

Deputy District Attorney Jack Shannon, who prosecuted Rodriguez, declined to comment on the sentencing.