2 Gang Members Get Terms Over 150 Years for Robbery, Rape

Two teenage gang members who robbed a South-Central Los Angeles used car dealership and, along with two others, raped a female employee, each were sentenced to more than 150 years in prison Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said he imposed the unusually long sentences because of the brutality of the assault, telling the two men: “You do not belong in civilized society.”

Both defendants, who are members of a Crips faction, were 17 at the time of the rape but were tried as adults. Lonnie Austin was sentenced to 213 years. Kenneth Norwood was sentenced to 154 years. A third man involved in the crime, Norvelle Austin, 19, was sentenced last week to 241 years. They were convicted of multiple counts of robbery, rape, sodomy and oral copulation.

“All of them, in essence, were given life without the possibility of parole,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Hemanshu Nigam, who prosecuted the case. “They all have to do at least 80% of their sentence.”

Two defendants were so brazen, Nigam said, that they threatened the victim in court.

After Norvelle Austin was convicted last summer, Nigam said, he curled his fingers in the shape of a gun, pointed it at the victim and pretended to shoot her. His brother, Lonnie, turned to the victim and shouted a vulgar word.

The crime was committed in July 1994. The three defendants and a 14-year-old boy, who was sentenced to the California Youth Authority earlier this year, entered the used car dealership in the morning. Norvelle Austin, who had a handgun, and the others ransacked the business and stole numerous items. They then sexually assaulted the 19-year-old female, the only employee there at the time. A man and his 12-year-old son who walked into the dealership were robbed and locked in a closet.

Another man entered the business but managed to escape and call 911. When police arrived, the defendants were holed up at a relative’s house half a block away. Witnesses who saw the robbers flee directed police to the house. They were arrested there.

The victim wrote to the judge about how the rape has destroyed her life. “I’d rather they’d killed me,” she wrote, “than live like this.”