Teen Gets 12 Years for Racial Stabbing on Pier

Dennis Paul Desanti Jr., who recently pleaded guilty to a racially motivated attack against a Latino fisherman last year, was sentenced Thursday in Orange County Superior Court to 12 years in state prison.

The 19-year-old Westminster man pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder and other charges in connection with the October 1996 attack on Ramon Valdez Martinez, 38, of Orange. Martinez was fishing on the Balboa Pier when he was stabbed in the right shoulder.

At the time, police said the attack was unprovoked. As part of his plea, Desanti admitted to committing the crime because of the victim’s race, prosecutors said.

Daniel Michael James Johnson, 19, of Orange was charged as an accomplice in the crime. Johnson pleaded guilty in February to the accessory charge and was sentenced to six months in jail and three years’ probation.