Two Santa Maria men were sentenced to state prison this week for an attack on a co-worker at a job site in rural Arroyo Grande in which the victim was stabbed by a box cutter.
Brothers Hector Tinoco Agustin, 20, and Jonathan Tinoco, 24, initially pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and battery resulting in a serious bodily injury stemming from the attack in March.
Tinoco Agustin faced additional criminal enhancements for using a deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily damage.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office previously said that if both men were convicted of all charges, Hector Tinoco Agustin faced up to 13 years in state prison, and Jonathan Tinoco faced up to 9 years.
But on June 18, both men reached plea agreements with prosecutors.
Tinoco pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon and Tinoco Agustin pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon and admitted a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury to the victim.
The other charges were dismissed.
On Monday, Tinoco was sentenced to two years in state prison and Tinoco Agustin was sentenced to a total of six years in state prison.
Tinoco Agustin’s attorney, Ginger Ortiz, declined to elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the case.
But she noted that the District Attorney’s Office offered the plea deal, including the dismissal of the attempted murder charges, after surveillance video of the attack surfaced.
Tinoco’s public defender, Brian Buckley, could not be reached for comment.
According to a news release, San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a stabbing victim at a local hospital on March 30, and interviewed a male victim who had a stab wound to his back.
The man told investigators he was attacked by two co-workers — Tinoco Agustin and Tinoco — who were also his former roommates.
The victim, who was treated and released from the hospital, said the brothers had also brandished a firearm toward him the previous night in Santa Maria.
Tinoco Agustin and Tinoco remain in San Luis Obispo County Jail awaiting placement by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials.
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