Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald
Will be incarcerated until near his 54th birthday
By Jon Johnson
jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com
SAFFORD – The long, strange tale that is the cases against Manuel Ramon Campos, 38, is not over, but one of the final chapters has been written.
On Monday, Campos appeared in front of Graham County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Travis Ragland and was sentenced to 7 years in prison on a charge of discharging a firearm at a residential structure – a Class-2 Felony – in accordance with his plea agreement from Thursday.
Campos took the plea mere days before his trial was set to begin. A second trial regarding the shooting incident involving Daniella Chapman at her residence Jan. 31 will also be avoided. The sentence will be served after he serves a 12-year sentence for possession of a prohibited weapon in the Chapman case.
The plea was in regard to the Dec. 18, 2017 shooting of Gary Don Hess, which required the victim to be airlifted to Banner – University Medical Center Tucson for treatment. Campos’ co-defendant in the Hess case, Robert Lee Lafler, 36, was sentenced in April 2018 to seven years in prison to be followed up by four years of probation after he took a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to misconduct involving weapons – a Class-4 Felony, and an amended charge of discharging a firearm at a residential structure – a Class-2 Felony.
Campos’ plea stipulates that all other charges in both the Hess and Chapman cases will be dismissed once Campos is sentenced. That means charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault resulting in disfigurement, two counts of assault, three counts of disorderly conduct with a weapon, three counts of endangerment, and prohibited possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited possessor will be dismissed in the Hess case alone, and charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, two counts of burglary, and disorderly conduct with a deadly weapon will be dismissed in the Chapman case, which was scheduled to begin trial Dec. 4.
On Friday, Campos’ attorney, Richard Luff, of Tucson, said he had seen a great change in Campos’ outlook during the time he represented him.
“I’ve seen profound changes in his beliefs and his attitude and his optimism,” Luff said. “I have seen regret for his actions.”
Campos was given 328 days credit for time served already in the jail. With the credit for time served in the Chapman case and figuring in he will receive one day off for every seven served, Campos will likely be paroled around his 54th birthday in 2035.
While jail prisoners are usually transferred to prison shortly after receiving their sentence, Campos will have one more Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Gila Valley at the Graham County Adult Detention Facility due to an unresolved restitution situation.
Judge Ragland previously ordered a restitution hearing due to the necessary restitution being higher than the allowed cap. The restitution hearing, which was set for Jan. 29 at 1:30 p.m., will determine how much Campos will have to pay to the victims, which has already been reported as $650 for the door and nearly $143,500 in medical costs to Hess.
Since Campos has the right to be at the restitution hearing, both Luff and special prosecutor Cochise County Deputy County Attorney Daniel Akers requested Campos be allowed to stay incarcerated at the jail until after the restitution hearing instead of having to transport him back from whatever prison he is assigned to. So, he will remain in the custody of the Graham County Adult Detention Facility for at least the next couple of months before being transferred into an Arizona State Prison Complex.
