FORNEY, Texas — A man was sentenced to 16 years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to attempted murder stemming from a failed 2017 murder plot in Forney.
FORNEY, Texas — A man was sentenced to 16 years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to attempted murder stemming from a failed 2017 murder plot in Forney.
86th District Court Judge Casey Blair sentenced 59-year-old David Gillette to 16 years in prison for his role in the murder conspiracy. Gillette's co-conspirator, Nubia Sanchez, received the same sentencing in February 2018.
In separate deals with the state, the pair pled guilty to attempted murder, waived their rights to a jury trial and appeals, and agreed to sentencing by a judge on a second-degree felony charge of attempted murder in lieu of first-degree felony attempted capital murder jury trials.
In both cases, Blair determined a deadly weapon was used during the offense which requires at least half of their 16-year sentences be served before they are eligible for parole.
On June 21, 2017, police responded to a residence in the 15000 block of Valley View, just north of Forney, on a report of trespassers on private property, Kaufman County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jolie Stewart told inForney.com at the time. There, police found the victim holding Gillette at gunpoint.
The victim told police Gillette had fired a gun at him before he returned fire.
Neither parties were injured in the incident and Gillette was taken into custody on an initial charge for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Investigators later learned Gillette and Sanchez had conspired to kill the victim and they were both charged with conspiracy to commit capital murder.