Manuel Carrasco Calderon, born in July 2002, was sentenced to a term of three and a half years in prison for his involvement in crimes following the murder of Bernardo Pantaleon, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has confirmed. After his incarceration, Calderon is set to undergo four years of supervised probation. The former Mountain View Park, where Pantaleon was found murdered on November 26, 2023, saw several arrests linked to the North Side 15th Avenue gang—ties which Carrasco Calderon has denied.
Charged with mutilating the victim’s body after death, Carrasco Calderon was indicted by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office on two counts in December 2023: Assisting a Criminal Street Gang, a Class Three Felony, and Dead Person-Improper Practice, a Class Four Felony. According to the official report, he pleaded guilty to both charges in January 2025.
While Carrasco Calderon prepares to serve his sentence, Leonardo Santiago and Jose David Rodriguez Soriano remain in custody, both facing not only murder charges but also a conspiracy to commit murder, among other allegations. Details of the case further reveal that Carrasco Calderon's actions were part of a grisly attempt to assist the gang, though he contests claims of his membership within its ranks.
Following the completion of his prison sentence, Carrasco Calderon's conduct will be under scrutiny, supplementary to the four years of supervised probation as instituted by the court. Other defendants linked to this caustic storyline of crime in Phoenix are yet to face trial.
