Long Beach Man Sentenced to Six Years in Jail After Domestic Violence Conviction

By GREG YEE | greg.yee@presstelegram.com |PUBLISHED: September 16, 2015 at 1:14 p.m. | UPDATED: September 1, 2017 at 1:17 a.m.

A Long Beach man convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence and other charges will spend six years behind bars, authorities announced Wednesday.

Long Beach Superior Court Judge Daniel Lowenthal gave Joseph Christo Gomez, 27, the maximum sentence after a jury found him guilty on making criminal threats, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer in addition to the domestic violence charge, according to the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s office.

“This is a fair and appropriate sentence,” said City Prosecutor Douglas Haubert in a statement. “The defendant proved he is dangerous and would continue to act out violently if he was not incarcerated. The judge got it right.”

A pattern of violence

The crimes occurred on three separate occasions from January through June this year.

Gomez, who was on probation for a battery conviction in 2012, held his wife’s jaw shut, pinned her against the car door in the presence of their young children and repeatedly violated a restraining order requiring him to stay away from her.

After calling the victim and threatening to kill her, Gomez went to her house at 2 a.m. and tried to enter.

Long Beach police responded, but Gomez refused to follow orders and struck one officer before he was taken into custody, according to the prosecutor’s office. Gomez told officers he had a gun, but no firearm was found.

Contact Greg Yee at 562-499-1476.