MEDFORD, Ore. – A veteran pleaded guilty in court Tuesday morning after brandishing a knife and lunging at officers at the White City V.A. earlier this year.
Gilbert Matthew Negrete was in court for sentencing as Judge Lorenzo Mejia told him, “Thank you for your service sir but you can’t engage in this. You almost lost your life.”
A veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and a father of young children, Negrete struggles with PTSD and substance abuse. Both were considered factors in the January incident in which he was shot at the V.A.
Negrete’s Attorney Christine Herbert said, “He was just again out of his mind and that’s why his dad was trying to take him to get some help at the hospital so that behavior could stop… but yes he was high on methamphetamine.”
Police said Negrete was in for a scheduled appointment when he began acting erratically and pointed a knife at an employee.
He was shot once in the chest after V.A. police tried non-lethal methods to calm him.
“I don’t know what the solution would have been for him,” Herbert said. “I mean he was at the right place to get the right help but because he was so decompensated from his mental health issues it just escalated.”
In court, Negrete faced multiple felony charges including unlawful use of a weapon. He pleaded guilty to all of them.
However, the Jackson County District Attorney offered a resolution to help Negrete receive treatment.
Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Benjamin Lull said at the sentencing, “There’s a reward of potential misdemeanor treatment at the tail end if he’s successful through all his completion of probation with the imposition of prison if he’s unsuccessful.”
It was exactly what Negrete and his attorney hoped for.
Herbert said, “The goal here was to try and prevent him from being a convicted felon and to see if he could get his life back on track, to avoid any prison sentence and that was accomplished.”
Now it’s just a matter of moving forward and staying on track with his probation, with the judge leaving Negrete with a simple warning: “When you have a mental health issue whatever it is, methamphetamine is not going to help. It might make you feel better for a little bit until you get shot.”
According to his attorney, Negrete is currently working two jobs and back on medication, trying to once again be a productive member of society.
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