Drug Dealer Pleads Guilty to Murdering Lawyer
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A drug dealer has pleaded guilty to stabbing to death an attorney who was negotiating to buy cocaine from him, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Louis Law, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the first-degree murder of civil and criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Villagran, 40. In exchange for his plea, Superior Court Judge William Pounders, at the request of prosecutors, dismissed a special circumstance allegation that could have qualified Law for a sentence of life in prison without parole. Instead, Law will be sentenced to 26 years to life in prison Feb. 13. Law remains in custody without bail.
Deputy Dist. Atty. John Moulin said Law stabbed Villagran about 25 times on May 7, 1988, near 1st Street and New Hampshire Avenue. The prosecutor said he believed that Villagran had met with Law to discuss buying cocaine from him and that Law decided to kill the lawyer to steal $395 from him.
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