By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The two men charged in last month’s beating and stun gun attack of a 32-year-old Chehalis man who thought he was with them to buy drugs in Centralia have both been sentenced after plea deals were made.
Joseph M. Hanks, 30, of Rochester, pleaded guilty on Thursday to felony harassment and third-degree assault. Elijah M. Garibay, 25, from Elma, pleaded guilty the week before to second-degree assault and made a so-called Alford plea to intimidating a witness.
The reason for the modified plea for intimidation is Garibay said he was high and just really didn’t remember the reason for what he was doing, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke said.
The men were arrested the night of June 18 after fleeing the assault which occurred inside Hanks’ car outside the Peppertree Motel.
The victim told police Hanks picked him up to go buy some heroin, and then unexpectedly picked up two other men.
Charging documents state once they arrived at the motel, they called the victim a snitch and Garibay from the backseat put his arm around the victim’s throat and choked him and then zapped him with a Taser; Hanks punched him in the face.
O’Rourke was convinced it was simply a beating in the guise of a drug deal. The victim had testified the week before against a man subsequently convicted of burglarizing a Napavine bar, although O’Rourke said he felt it might be related to some other individuals.
O’Rourke never acknowledged if Thomas Pennypacker was a confidential informant.
Pennypacker’s $60 was handed over to a third unidentified man who walked away from the vehicle and has not been named or found, according to O’Rourke.
Garibay and Hanks each ended up with sentences of 27 months in prison.
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For background, read “Prosecutor: Intimidation appears to be motive behind attack on man at Centralia motel” from Thursday June 20, 2013, here [1]