Man sentenced to 48 years to life for March shooting, sexual assault
Sep. 13—Yuba County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Wirtschafter sentenced a man to 48 years to life in state prison after the man previously pleaded no contest to attempted murder, kidnapping, and assault with a firearm on a person.
Zachary Williams, 39, was charged with 13 felony counts related to a shooting on March 22 in Oregon House off Begonia Way and Saagennah Trail. Williams has been in custody since April 6 for being one of the three men involved in the shooting. He was arrested and located by the Merced Police Department. On April 14, Robby Lepird, 31, and Jesse Feamster, 22, were arrested by the Stockton California Highway Patrol for their part in the incident.
Included in Williams' charges were counts of rape by force, sexual penetration by force. sodomy by force, and oral copulation by force. Deputy District Attorney Ashley Tuft asked that although those charges had been dismissed as part of the plea agreement that Wirtschafter consider them and order Williams to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life if he is ever released from state prison.
Wirtschafter said Williams' actions constituted every way one person could violate another person and ordered him to register as a sex offender if he is ever released.
Lepird and Feamster are scheduled to face trial on Nov. 2. They will next appear in court on Sept. 27 for a discovery compliance hearing. They both remain in custody.
