2 men get prison time for crimes connected to the killing of actor Johnny Wactor
LOS ANGELES — Two men convicted of lesser crimes connected to the killing of former “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor were sentenced to state prison on Wednesday.
Neither Leonel Gutierrez nor Frank Olano was charged with killing Wactor, who was shot when he interrupted three thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in downtown Los Angeles on May 25.
Gutierrez, 19, received four years in California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft and attempted robbery.
Olano, 22, who was not at the scene of the killing, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison after pleading no contest to being an accessory after the fact and receiving stolen property.
Two co-defendants, Robert Barceleau and Sergio Estrada, both 18, are charged with the murder in the death of Wactor. Earlier this month, a judge found that there was enough evidence for them to go to trial. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Police and prosecutors said the 37-year-old Wactor had left work at a downtown LA rooftop bar with a coworker when he saw three men who had hoisted his car. One of them fired at him and killed him, authorities said.
After a long investigation that included police requests for help from the public and pleas for an intensified probe and prosecution from Wactor’s family and friends, the four men were arrested in August.
