OAKLAND – Two men were sentenced to five years in prison for a fatal shooting here in 2017, although both had already served their sentences and were free on bail at the time of the guilty plea agreement.
One of the defendants, Isaiah Scott, agreed to cooperate against his co-defendant Keith Lamont Smith and testified at Smith’s preliminary hearing in February 2018, court records show. But in the end, the outcome was the same for both men. Scott pleaded no contest to attempted murder and Smith to assault with a firearm, and both received five-year prison sentences, court records show.
The charges stemmed from a conflict that ended with the shooting death of 18-year-old Frank Avery on June 23, 2017. He was found dead in a stolen vehicle that had collided with several parked cars near the intersection of Seminary Ave and Foothill Boulevard. Scott testified at the preliminary hearing that he was riding with Avery in a vehicle that also contained a third man who mentioned he was having “issues” with a woman.
Scott testified that Smith pulled up in a vehicle next to them and fired at the car, hitting Avery. He later admitted to shooting the woman his friend had been having problems with because “she was sending people to follow us.” He denied firing back at Smith with a gun from the car.
Smith’s attorney argued at the hearing that another person in the car identified a different man as the shooter and that person had threatened Avery before, according to a transcript of the hearing.
In 2021, Smith was released from prison after posting $350,000 on a $5 million bond, and Scott was released on honor by a judge. At the time of their sentencing, both men were considered to have fully served their five-year sentences while on remand at Dublin’s Santa Rita Jail, records show.
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