SATICOY : Convicted Killer, 16, to Be Evaluated

A 16-year-old gang member convicted in the drive-by slayings of two Saticoy men has been ordered to be evaluated by juvenile authorities to determine whether he should be sentenced to prison or the California Youth Authority.

Superior Court Judge Allan Steele ordered the evaluation Friday for Carlos Vargas of Ventura, who drove the car in the April 7 shooting that killed Javier Ramirez, 19, and Rolando Martinez, 20, and wounded two other men in Cabrillo Village in Saticoy.

Vargas pleaded guilty in July to murder and conspiracy charges in a plea-bargain arranged by the district attorney’s office. In exchange for Vargas’ plea and his testimony against the other three defendants, prosecutors dropped a special-circumstance allegation, which could have resulted in a life sentence without possibility of parole.

Vargas’ testimony led to the conviction of triggerman Edward (Tony) Throop, 18, who faces a maximum of four life sentences without parole.

Throop is undergoing the same evaluation that the judge ordered Friday for Vargas. If prison officials recommend that Vargas not be put into prison immediately, he would be held at a California Youth Authority facility. He could remain there no later than his 26th birthday, after which he would be transferred to state prison to serve the rest of his sentence.

Vargas is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 21, 1992, one week after Throop’s sentencing.