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McDonald was arrested last year following an attempted takeover of the casino. In a rare move, Judge Dale Blea threw out Tex McDonald’s two prior felonies making him ineligible for a third strike offense and a life sentence.
Applause in Madera County’s courtroom as dozens of Tex McDonald’s faithful supporters learn about his immanent release from jail via a plea deal. After spending 242 days in jail, McDonald will walk out a free man on Friday after a no-contest plea.
Without this plea deal McDonald would have faced a life sentence. In a phone conversation McDonald’s attorney Antonio Alvarez says they could have taken this case to trial, but that could have meant more time in prison for McDonald.
"It would have been interesting to litigate this and I do think that he has a legitimate point where he could possibly prevail, but that would have taken time resource and would have meant Tex would have been in custody longer," Antonio Alvarez, McDonald’s attorney, said.
Legal analyst Charles Magill says not only has McDonald proven he has rehabilitated after his prior convictions. This recent charge of false imprisonment isn’t a violent crime.
"I think the court looked behind the felony charge asked what the evidence was about that, and that’s the reason why the court was willing to ignore the priors and basically give him credit for time served," Magill said.
There were 15 people involved in the Chukchansi Casino take over. Most of which have already struck deals lowering their charges to misdemeanors.
Gaby Rodriguez reporting.
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