A man who strangled his girlfriend in National City in 2005 was sentenced May 8 to 11 years in state prison.
Victor Hugo Sanchez, 53, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the slaying of Agapita Gonzalez, 36.
He stood trial for murder in February, but a Chula Vista Superior Court jury deadlocked 10-2 for acquittal after they deliberated for two days.
Judge Stephanie Sontag imposed 11 years and gave him credit for serving nearly seven years in jail. A murder charge was dismissed after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Sanchez fled the U.S. after the slaying, but Mexican federal police arrested him in 2013 after they discovered he did not have proper visitor documents. He was extradited to National City police officers on March 2, 2013.
His trial was repeatedly delayed because his attorneys were trying to contact witnesses in Cuba, Belize, and Mexico.
Deputy District Attorney Harrison Kennedy said the cause of Gonzalez’s death was strangulation and blunt force trauma. Her family members found her body in her National City apartment after not hearing from her for several days.
