(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)
A man whose crime spree began with a carjacking in Branson, Mo., and included terrorizing a grandmother and granddaughter at gunpoint in her apartment before he was tasered and arrested inside a Springfield, Mo., church, was sentenced in federal court today.
Alberto Colina, Jr., 35, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 20 years in federal prison without parole, the statutory maximum penalty. The court also ordered Colina to pay $2,500 in victim restitution.
On Sept. 21, 2017, Colina pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of stealing a firearm.
According to court documents, Colina started his crime spree on Jan. 5, 2016, by stealing a truck in Branson, Mo. The truck, which had been left running by the owner, contained a double barrel rifle.
The next day, a witness reported Colina for a possible burglary at a residence in Branson. When law enforcement arrived, Colina attempted to flee the scene in the stolen truck; however, he rammed the reporting witness’s vehicle during his flight, while the witness was inside the vehicle, and then fled on foot.
Colina then found his way to an apartment complex where he forced his way into an apartment at gunpoint. The 63-year-old resident of the apartment, identified in court documents as E.R., was home alone with her 2-year-old granddaughter. Colina knocked at the door of E.R.’s apartment at about 1:30 p.m. When she opened the door, Colina – wearing a black mask and holding a rifle – pushed the rifle in her face. She grabbed the barrel but he pushed his way into her apartment. Colina struck her on the side of the face and head butted her, causing her to fall to the floor next to her granddaughter. E.R. attempted to reach the balcony to yell for help, but Colina forced her back into the apartment and hit her in the back of the head with the stock of the rifle.
For the next two hours, Colina terrorized E.R. and her two-year old granddaughter, and he ransacked her home. He forced E.R. to drink a liquid containing alprazolam and hydrocodone, which caused her to become very drowsy and occasionally lose consciousness. He stole numerous items from E.R., including cash, firearms, and prescription medications.
After Colina left her apartment, E.R. called the police and was taken to the hospital. She received staples to her scalp due to a laceration, and treatment for a fractured finger and possible fractured rib. Toxicology reports confirmed that E.R. had opiates and benzodiazepines in her blood.
Colina ended his crime spree by breaking into a church in Springfield, Mo. A stolen van, belonging to Springfield Pool and Spa, was parked outside the church. Colina was located inside the church. Colina refused to comply with law enforcement’s commands and had to be tasered.
Under federal statutes, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Colina has two prior felony convictions for tampering with a motor vehicle, two prior convictions for resisting arrest, and prior felony convictions for possessing burglary tools and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.
Colina has pleaded guilty in a separate state case to robbery, two counts of armed criminal action and assault. Colina awaits sentencing in Taney County Circuit Court on those convictions.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Branson, Mo., Police Department and the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.
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