Luiz Mendoza was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday for his role in the October 2024 shooting that injured former Denver Broncos receiver Josh Reynolds, a case prosecutors say began with a cocaine deal gone wrong and ended with gunfire tearing through a vehicle on Interstate 25. Mendoza pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and a drug-distribution charge, with a number of other charges dismissed as part of his plea deal.
According to 9NEWS, Mendoza received 28 years for the assault charge and two years for possession with intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance, with the sentences handed down Nov. 6. Mendoza was one of nine people charged in connection with the shooting, according to the Denver District Attorney's Office.
The attack traces back to Oct. 18, 2024, when Reynolds and two friends left Shotgun Willie's, a strip club in Glendale, Colorado. The station's report, drawing on prior reporting, describes how the group never should have been targeted at all.
A Case of Mistaken Identity Over a Fake-Money Drug Deal
Court documents indicate a buyer had purchased $250,000 worth of cocaine using counterfeit money, prompting the drug dealer to enlist others to seek revenge, according to the same court records cited in the 9NEWS account. The attackers planned to follow the buyers home and hurt them, per those documents, but instead zeroed in on Reynolds and his companions.
Investigators and prosecutors believed Reynolds and his friends had no connection to the drug deal and were not the attackers' intended targets at all. As detailed by the Denver Post, the attackers mistook the trio for people who had used fake money to buy the cocaine, and police have said the trio had nothing to do with the situation.
A Chase Across Denver-Area Highways
What followed was a pursuit through the city. Attackers followed Reynolds and his friends onto I-25 and opened fire, and the Denver Post reported that the drivers chased the group on Colorado Boulevard, I-25 and East Hampden Avenue before returning to I-25, where gunfire eventually struck the vehicle. Reynolds drove through neighborhoods trying to escape his pursuers, but the attackers found the group again and fired more shots.
At least 30 rounds were fired into the vehicle carrying Reynolds and his companions, according to prosecutor Holly MacDonald, as reported by the Denver Post. Reynolds and his friends were injured by gunshots or flying glass in the attack. A later Denver Post report described the wound as being to his left leg and the back of his head.
Co-Defendant Sentenced Last Year, Others Still Pending
Mendoza's sentencing follows that of co-defendant Burr Charlesworth, who drove one of the vehicles used in the shooting and was sentenced to 10 years in prison last September after being convicted of felony assault. Charlesworth was the first of seven adult defendants arrested on attempted-murder charges in the attack to plead guilty and be sentenced, the Denver Post noted at the time. As of that September 2025 report, a juvenile had also been charged and an eighth adult suspect remained at large.
Reynolds's Football Career Since the Shooting
Reynolds, who was 31 at the time of the shooting, had signed a two-year contract with the Broncos before the 2024 season after previously playing for the Los Angeles Rams, Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions. He had been injured the week before the shooting and ultimately played just five games with Denver before the team cut him. He finished that season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, then signed with the New York Jets ahead of the 2025 season. He is currently a free agent.
