As many of San Diegan's know, Friday April 20th brought a ruling in the trial of Sam Suleiman and his wife. Unfortunately, instead of a trial, and a conviction, a deal was made between the District Attorney's office and the Suleiman's: Sam Suleiman pleaded guilty to felony assault and his wife, Rosa pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. In return for the guilty pleas, the district attorney's office has dropped several other charges against the couple, and instead of facing prison time, Sam Suleiman will likely receive probation.
I am shocked at the response of the court to the actions of the Suleiman's...to have them be able to get a plea bargain and pleading guilty to a felony, and misdemeanor assault and then have "probation" be their only consequences is a shockingly lenient judgment considering the heinousness of their crimes.
Crimes not just to John Mattes, who, without the intervention of BK, the brave witness to whom we at FOX6 are eternally grateful for his willingness to put himself in harms-way to protect John, could have experienced even more physical harm than his bloodied lacerations and broken ribs. Crimes which were also committed to many other people who have been victimized, cheated, and threatened with violence and death!
Amazingly, before this “plea-bargain” deal was even completed, the Suleiman’s were sued again by an elderly woman who owned a San Diego bail bonds business, who also asked the court for a temporary restraining order on the Suleiman’s..
In her pleading this woman charged Suleiman refused to pay his bond premium and then entered into a real estate transaction, selling her the Suleiman's home at a reduced price. The suit explains that the Suleiman's then moved into the woman's old home but failed to pay the agreed upon rent. The suit alleges that Suleiman became increasingly aggressive and threatening and at one point, in the presence of Rosa Barraza, threatened to kill the woman if she did not give him her property in exchange for Suleiman's old house.
She alleges that Suleiman claimed to be connected to the Mexican Mafia and "knew how to make people disappear." In a later phone threat, Suleiman is alleged to have threatened to slit her throat. Read the Court Document
The story of this ederly woman is the same story we at FOX6 have heard many times since John’s video was made public, as scores of people have come forward (many of whom are ederly or retired) with the same story about the Suleiman’s…even a postal carrier was physically threatened with physical violence by Sam Suleiman.
We as citizens are shocked at the horrific events at Virginia Tech, and we are concerned at the increasing violence in our society, and yet our court system continues to allow people like the Suleiman's to continue to be free to threaten and physically assault others. How can we expect to be protected from violence and physical harm when our system of laws allows the perpetrators to continue to go free?
Sadly, the majority of people who the Suleiman’s go after with extortion and threats of physical violence are people who have the least ability to protect themselves, and are most in need of our system of laws and courts to protect them.
At the end of court procedure on Friday, Sam Suleiman, exultant with the probation deal he had made in return for his guilty plea, continued to threaten John Mattes and FOX6 management (you can see the report on fox6.com under “hot topics”) which is in direct opposition to the intent of the probation offered by the court!
In regards to Sam Suleiman, it seems obvious he has many more court proceedings ahead of him, including civil trials for assault and threats of murder, and at this point we can only hope the legal system will finally be able to protect law abiding citizens and properly execute justice by incarcerating the Suleiman’s for their many violent and serious crimes.