Sacaton Gang Member Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for First Degree Murder

     PHOENIX – Today, George Alonzo Renteria, 30, of Sacaton, Ariz., and a member of the Gila River Indian Community, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow to life imprisonment for first degree murder, with a consecutive sentence of ten years for committing the murder with a firearm.  Renteria had previously been convicted at a jury trial of first degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence.

     On Feb. 17, 2014, Renteria shot and killed a fellow member of the Gila River Indian Community.  Renteria encountered the victim in Chandler, Ariz., and convinced him to get into a car Renteria was driving.  Renteria then drove the victim to a deserted field on the Gila River Indian Community and shot him to death with a handgun.  Renteria was in the midst of a violent crime spree, having perpetrated a vehicle theft and an armed home invasion in the hours leading up to the murder.

     During the trial, the victim was described by fellow community members as a gentle, well-liked, and kind-hearted man who went out of his way to help those around him.  Renteria, on the other hand, is a longtime member of a street gang with a violent criminal history.  At the time he murdered the victim, Renteria was on federal supervised release for a prior robbery conviction.

     The investigation was conducted by the Gila River Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine D. Keller and William G. Voit, District of Arizona, Phoenix.