The LA County District Attorney’s Office announced that Robert Charles Maalea, age 43, has pleaded no contest to four counts in an open plea to the court including carjacking, evading an officer, willful disregard, possession of a firearm with prior violent conviction, and possession of an assault weapon. He was sentenced to 21 years in state prison for arming himself with an assault rifle, committing a carjacking, and leading police on a pursuit. An open plea, meaning that a sentence was not negotiated with the District Attorney’s Office.
The co-defendant and half-brother to Maalea, Alexander Russell Smith, pleaded no contest to one count of possession of an assault weapon. He was sentenced on July 24th, 2014, to three years of summary probation. The Deputy DA Rachel Bodley, who was prosecuting the case, said that on December 30th, 2013, Robert Charles Maalea armed himself with an AR-15 assault rifle and carjacked a vehicle in Long Beach.
The police were called, leading them to locate the defendant, however, he led them on a chase and eventually crashed his vehicle. He was then apprehended by the police and taken into custody.
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