On a Friday that was surely marked by mixed emotions, Ricardo Vazquez, the man involved in a downtown Denver shooting amidst the Denver Nuggets' NBA championship celebrations in 2023, received a 35-year prison sentence. Six months after Vazquez entered a guilty plea to attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference, a Denver District Court handed down the sentence, which also included an eight-year term for intent to distribute a controlled substance, to be served concurrently, according to Denver 7.
Denver District Attorney's Office stated that the chaos ensued near 20th and Market streets around 12:30 a.m. on June 13, 2023, resulting in injuries to ten people. Despite his last-minute effort to withdraw his guilty plea, alleging pressure from his attorneys, Judge Martin Egelhoff dismissed Vazquez's claims and proceeded with the sentencing, as reported by 9News. Vazquez's troubled past, including a handgun possession case as a juvenile and an attempted murder charge later reduced to felony menacing, underscored the sentencing decision.
The Denver Nuggets' victory had brought throngs to the streets to revel in the glory of the win when the celebration was marred by this violent incident. As detailed by the KDVR, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment classified the shooting that left nine injured as a mass shooting, a stark shadow cast over an otherwise jubilant city. Vazquez entered into a plea agreement in January of this year, culminating in this recent sentencing.
Two other individuals were implicated in the shooting incident, with Raoul Jones's case closing this past February after being fined and sentenced to one year in corrections for weapon possession as a previous offender. Kenneth Blakely, on the other hand, has pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder, and extreme indifference, among other charges. His pretrial is set to kick off on April 4, with a jury trial following on April 14, according to court records obtained by KDVR.
