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Undocumented Man Sentenced For Role In Fayetteville Strip Club Shooting

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — A man living illegally in the U.S. was sentenced to prison Tuesday (Feb. 19) for his role in a Fayetteville strip club shooting last year ...

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — A man living illegally in the U.S. was sentenced to prison Tuesday (Feb. 19) for his role in a Fayetteville strip club shooting last year after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.

Carlos Gomez-Aguilar, 25, of Springdale pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to aggravated assault, second-degree battery and first-degree criminal mischief.

Undocumented Man Sentenced For Role In Fayetteville Strip Club Shooting

Prosecutors dropped Aguilar's charge of committing a terroristic act.

Judge Mark Lindsay sentenced Aguilar to five years in the state Department of Correction retroactive to March 29, 2018.

The Jan. 21, 2018, shooting was the result of an altercation between Aguilar and two other suspects — Victor Manuel Martinez and Ramon Flores — and club security at Silver Dollar Cabaret, according to Sgt. Anthony Murphy, Fayetteville police spokesman.

Security told the men they wouldn’t be allowed into the club and might be added to the ban list. Security went to make sure the men were leaving, and Martinez returned with a rifle and opened fire.

Police said Martinez fired 20 rounds at the club, striking a door, the building’s exterior, and a nearby pickup, according to an arrest report.

Only a few of the rounds entered the crowded club, with most of the bullets impacting a cinder block wall.

One employee was injured in the shooting — either from a grazed bullet or debris — but was treated at Washington Regional Medical Center.

A witness later selected Martinez from a lineup, saying Martinez “wanted to kill me,” according to the report.

During the investigation, authorities learned Aguilar had been deported in 2013 for illegal reentry into the country. Aguilar is originally from El Salvador and had a handful of arrests for drug possession, fleeing and obstructing governmental operations in Benton County between 2009 and 2010.

Flores also reached a plea deal with prosecutors and was sentenced in November 2018 to five years in prison.

Martinez, 19, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault, engaging in a violent group activity, second-degree battery and committing a terroristic act.

His next hearing his March 1. He's being held at the Washington County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.

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