A nearly 47-year prison term is staying put for a man convicted in a 2016 Southern California home invasion spree, after a state appeals court refused to tinker with his punishment.
Appeals Court Affirms Prison Term
In a ruling issued Friday, a three-justice panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected Vacho Shahen’s challenge to his 46-years-and-eight-months sentence, according to MyNewsLA. Shahen, 40, had argued that then Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Henry Hall erred when he imposed the lengthy term after a jury convicted Shahen in May 2024. The appellate decision keeps the June 2024 judgment intact while the direct appeal is resolved.
Conviction, Charges and Sentence
Shahen was convicted in May 2024 of 15 counts tied to a roughly two-week spree in August 2016 that hit homes in Downey, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. The charges included multiple counts of home invasion robbery, assault with a firearm, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment. At sentencing, Judge Hall called the crimes “extremely sophisticated and well-planned” and said he intended to keep Shahen out of society for as long as possible when handing down the 46-year, eight-month term, per City News Service.
How Investigators Connected The Cases
Santa Monica police and a forensics unit reported that DNA recovered at the Adelaide Drive scene helped link that burglary and shooting to related invasions in Beverly Hills and Downey after a multi-year probe. Authorities identified Shahen as a suspect in 2018 while he was being held in federal custody in Philadelphia and returned him to Los Angeles in November 2021 to face the state case, according to Santa Monica Mirror.
Victims, Trial Outcomes
Jurors found true the allegations that Shahen used a gun during the crimes and convicted him of assault with a firearm for the Santa Monica shooting, though they acquitted him of attempted murder on that count. Prosecutors have said victims in the Downey and Beverly Hills invasions were handcuffed during the robberies and that some were left bound after Shahen fled, as reported by Patch.
The appellate panel's ruling leaves the superior court's sentence in place and, for now, ensures Shahen begins serving the lengthy state term ordered last year. Court filings and decisions remain the authoritative record of the case and were summarized in reporting on the March 30, 2026 ruling by MyNewsLA.
