Judge spares now-sober ex-con from prison

Jurist to defendant: 'I think you’re a different person'

OAKLAND >> Going into Friday’s federal court hearing, Luis Augustine-Munoz did not appear to be a likely candidate to avoid prison time for a conviction of being a felon in possession of a pistol that had been reported stolen from the home of a retired San Jose police officer.

But for Augustine-Munoz, the time since his July 2018 arrest in Pittsburg has been spend seeking redemption. He quickly admitted responsibility, excelled at his job and eventually started his own T-shirt business, and — perhaps most importantly for the judge — stayed sober and arrest-free during the more than two years he’s been out of custody awaiting sentencing. For all that, U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar rejected prosecutors’ request for a prison term and gave Augustine-Munoz six months of home detention and five years of supervised release.

“Mr. Augustine-Munoz, I believe in you. That’s why I’m doing this,” Tigar said in court Friday morning. He later added, “I think you’re a different person than you were when you were arrested. Everyone tells me they are a different person, but I think you are.”

Augustine-Munoz was arrested during a traffic stop in Pittsburg in July 2018, where an officer found the loaded stolen pistol, as well as more than $3,000 in cash, as well as dozens of Xanax pills, some cocaine, and 60 grams of marijuana. Because of his two prior gun convictions in Contra Costa, he was hit with federal charges that carry a 10-year maximum term.

But after his arrest, Augustine-Munoz’s family members wrote in letters tothecourt,hetookahard look at himself and realized drug addiction was the root cause of his criminal history. He’s stayed sober for nearly 700 days, which Tigar said was the primary factor convincing him to forgo prison.

“When you’re drunk or high you’re a criminal, but you haven’t been drunk or high for almost two years. That gives me a lot of confidence,” Tigar said. He added that by contrast, if Augustine-Munoz went to prison he’d likely be surrounded by negative influences.

“I don’t think that your neighbors are safer from you if I put you in custody and you get out than if I keep you on supervision and you continue doing what you’re doing,” he said.

Augustine-Munoz, for his part, apologized to the court in a letter and said he has spent his last two years studying, working learning a new language, and spending time with his family.

“I am extremely upset with myself for getting in trouble again I let down my family and more importantly my wife who I already put through this same situation before from my drug addiction, I was fine for so long but after the death of my great grandmother who passed away at my parents home and also a childhood friend who overdosed I relapsed,” Augustine-Munoz wrote.

Before ending the hearing, Tigar warned Augustine-Munoz that he’d be the one to sentence him if he violates his probation. He took the unusual step of scheduling annual court hearings to check on Augustine-Munoz’s progress.

“Once a year I want to be reminded that I did the right thing,” Tigar said.