District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Jose Cortez (DOB 2/5/85), of Oxnard, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for a robbery he committed on June 26, 2014, in Oxnard.

A jury found Cortez guilty of one count of second-degree robbery and also found true the special allegation that he committed the offense for the benefit of the colonia chiques, a criminal street gang, and that he personally used a handgun during the robbery. This offense was Cortez’s third strike conviction.

Cortez robbed an individual in Oxnard after he refused to buy Cortez’s BMX bicycle. Cortez was arrested on June 30, 2014. The jury returned its verdict on June 30, 2016.