Man gets 20 years in prison for possession of firearm

FAYETTEVILLE — A former Springdale resident with a violent criminal history involving firearms was sentenced to prison Monday in connection with possessing a firearm.

Jaime Eduardo Manzano, 22, of 3309 E. Bond St. in Monett, Mo., pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to being a felon in possession of a firearm and two misdemeanor charges, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, stemming from his arrest on Feb. 23, 2023. Manzano was arrested after he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Springdale residence and a woman called 911, according to prosecutors.

Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor sentenced Manzano to 20 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with 15 years suspended. Manzano will have to spend the full remaining five years in prison, according to prosecutors.

In July 2021, Manzano was sentenced to 20 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with seven years suspended after pleading guilty to unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.

The shooting happened Aug. 24, 2018, on Trudi Street in Springdale. Manzano was 17 at the time, but he was charged as an adult.

Manzano fired several rounds from a car at a home and at individuals outside the home and was in possession of a stolen firearm, according to court documents. No one was injured.

The shooting came a day after Giovanni Vasquez-Sanchez was convicted of being an accomplice to the killing of 20-year-old Jimmy Rodriguez in a drive-by shooting on Savage Street in Springdale on April 11, 2015. Vasquez-Sanchez was the driver.

Manzano was identified in court testimony as being a passenger in the car when Rodolfo Martinez shot Rodriguez. Manzano was 13, too young to be charged as an adult at the time.

Martinez, 21, was convicted in August 2017 of capital murder, two counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and three counts of committing a terroristic act. Martinez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Vasquez-Sanchez, 21, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for accomplice to first-degree murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle.

The other passenger, Jose Andrew Delatorre, 21, pleaded guilty in September 2017 to accomplice to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years.

Manzano also pleaded guilty to second-degree battery in July 2021 for holding a Washington County sheriff’s deputy while another person hit him. Manzano was sentenced to 72 months on that charge, to run concurrently.

Charges of committing a terroristic act, theft by receiving and misdemeanor fleeing were dismissed as part of the plea.

Three other teens were charged as juveniles in the case. State law prohibits the release of information about juvenile arrest records and juvenile court proceedings.

Manzano