A Chino man was sentenced Thursday to 374 years to life in state prison for a string of robberies targeting Asian women in the San Gabriel Valley in 2011.
A jury in July found Jose Lewis Avila, 33, guilty of nine counts of second-degree robbery, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and one count of child abuse, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Avila was also convicted in special allegations that he used a deadly weapon, a BB gun, that was used to shoot a victim in the face as she was holding her child.
"There's one particular woman who was holding her child in her arms she was robbed at BB gunpoint in her driveway," Deputy District Attorney David Ayvazian said. "Even after he took her laptop and purse, he shot in the face, and she has a permanent scar."
Another of his eight victims, Casey Chang, still has a sensitive spot on her arm where she was hit with the BB three years ago.
"Everytime I pass through the scene or the street, or maybe when I went home, it's kind of like everything I remember," Chang said.
Prosecutors said Avila would drive along Valley Boulevard and follow Asian women home, robbing them and shooting them with his BB gun, even if they cooperated.
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Even though Avila covered his face during the attacks, prosecutors said several women identified him by his eyes and his eyebrows, and they found a BB gun and latex gloves in his car when he was arrested.
He was sentenced to 374 years to life in prison as a third strike offender. He had gone to jail in 2005 for a string of robberies. He was paroled in 2011 before going on another spree.
