Two years after robbing and attempting to stab to death a man in the Chumash Casino parking lot, Osbaldo Hernandez, 38, was sentenced Tuesday to 45 years in prison. His accomplice, Cherie Rodriguez, 32, was sentenced to seven years for assault with a deadly weapon inflicting great bodily harm. In April 2016, both Hernandez and Rodriguez pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the November 2013 stabbing, according to a District Attorney’s Office press release.
Early on November 6, a male Nipomo resident suffering from several stab wounds staggered into the Chumash Casino’s lobby, as The Independent previously reported . According to a Sheriff’s Office statement at the time, the victim was stabbed while inside a vehicle on the reservation. Hernandez (whose first name was initially reported to be "Osvaldo") and Rodriguez stole his cell phone and wallet and left him for dead.
Later that evening, Rodriguez was arrested following a high-speed pursuit on-and-off Highway 101. Hernandez, a documented gang member, was arrested at a Santa Maria home on November 21. At the time of the stabbing, he was on parole for assault with a deadly weapon, violating a criminal street gang act, and possessing a gun as a felon.
