The intended victim of a murder-for-hire plot involving two members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians faked his own death and went into hiding to avoid being killed, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

Leonard Epps was told by police to leave the state and cut ties with his family. He remains in hiding even after two tribal members and a third person who is connected to the Mexican Mafia pleaded guilty for their attempt to murder him.

Epps, however, says Stacy Cheyenne Barajas-Nunez, her brother Erik Barajas and the Mafia member, Salvador Orozco Hernandez, are getting off easy. "These people are being considered for short-term sentences, using house arrest and probation," Epps wrote in a victim statement being read in court today. "Wow, to think that it is okay to seek out the services of death through murder-for-hire and get a pass on liability."

Epps believes he was targeted because he may have witnessed the attempted murder of one of his friends by another tribal member. The friend was subsequently murdered.

Get the Story:
Murder-for-hire plot sentences too light, intended victim says (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 8/7)
pwpwd

Related Stories:
San Manuel Band signs law enforcement contract (7/24)
San Manuel Band to sign law enforcement contract (7/18)
San Manuel Band takes aim at reservation crime (6/23)
Guilty pleas in San Manuel murder-for-hire case (4/18)
San Manuel relatives torn apart over gang case (12/14)
Woman in San Manuel murder case sentenced (12/6)
San Manuel members in court on murder charges (9/27)
Mexican gangs said to have infiltrated tribe (9/20)
Warrants served on San Manuel in major meth bust (12/13)