Figure in Fatal Drug Sting Gets 18-Year Prison Term : Courts: Luis Plantillas Benitez took part in deal that resulted in the 1990 shooting death of Fullerton Detective Tommy De La Rosa.

By DAVID A. AVILA

July 15, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NORWALK — A Superior Court judge on Tuesday sentenced Luis Plantillas Benitez, 39, to 18 years in state prison for his part in a soured drug sting which ended in the death of Fullerton Detective Tommy De La Rosa more than two years ago.

Benitez was the third man to receive an 18-year sentence for his part of the failed drug deal.

The sting occurred on June 21, 1990. De La Rosa, posing as a drug seller, met Benitez and the others in a driveway in a residential area of Downey. But the deal went sour and shots were fired from both sides. One of the would-be buyers was killed.

The sentence imposed on De La Rosa by Judge Charles E. Frisco was one year less than the maximum allowed under the law for conspiracy to buy cocaine and the attempted purchase of the drug with the intent to sell it, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Lenhart.

More than a dozen Fullerton police officers attended the sentencing on Tuesday and several said they were not satisfied with the outcome.

“We think he deserved much more,” Hughes said of Benitez’s 18-year sentence. “He could be out in six and a half years.”

Hughes said the Fullerton police believed that because of the quickness of the gun battle after the drug sale meeting, Benitez and a female accomplice had lured the officer to the site so gunmen could shoot him from behind.

“Within 40 seconds 21 gunshots were fired and (De La Rosa) was hit five times,” Hughes said. “We believe Benitez was setting the stage for the robbery-murder.”

On Aug. 10, four men suspected of being the gunmen will go on trial and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Raul Meza, Omar Yuriar Noriega, Jerome Leon Sanchez and Frederico E. Marriott are all Mexican nationals still facing trial.

Four weeks ago, Ydalvys Gonzales Escobar, the suspected female accomplice, was convicted of conspiracy to buy cocaine and the attempted purchase of the drug with intent to sell it for her part in the sting. She was sentenced to four years in prison. Her husband, Miguel Leon Escobar, convicted on the same charges, was sentenced to 18 years.

Hughes, a seven-year police veteran who worked two years on patrol with De La Rosa, said he is a close friend of the family.

“No matter what sentence they give them it won’t give the 3-year-old her father back,” Hughes said.