Man sentenced to life in prison for threatening ex-girlfriend
A man found guilty of repeatedly threatening his ex-girlfriend was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Wednesday in Kern County Superior Court.
Ray Anthony Sanchez, 37, was found guilty of threatening with the intent to terrorize for multiple messages and calls that he made to his ex-girlfriend in 2021.
Sanchez was represented by defense attorney Roger Ponce and the prosecutor in the case was deputy district attorney Jordan Webster.
"I am grateful that the days of fear are over for this survivor. Sanchez has demonstrated a history of violent criminal behavior. With this third strike sentencing, it is relieving that he will no longer have the ability to harm our community," Webster told The Californian in an email after the sentencing.
Ponce's office declined to comment.
According to a police report submitted by the Delano Police Department to the court, the victim told officers she dated Sanchez for two years and they had been broken up for about two months in April 2021.
On April 9, 2021, Sanchez called the victim and told her that her body would end up in a trash can, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
On April 23, 2024, Sanchez, who lived in McFarland at the time, showed up at the victim’s house in Tulare so the victim went to her mother’s house in Delano, according to the Delano Police report.
On April 24, 2021, the victim received a call and Sanchez told her “I am going to take you to a dark room. I am going to put you in a black bag. And I am going to put that bag in a garbage can," according to the report.
On March 25, 2021, Sanchez sent the victim a picture of items in her home being destroyed, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
On Dec. 11, 2021, the victim received a text with a picture of a tattoo of “RIP” above the victim's name on Sanchez’s hand, according to the DA.
