MIDLAND, Texas —
A man who attacked an Asian family in a Midland Sam's Club was sentenced to a total of 45 years in prison by a federal court Thursday.
Jose Gomez III stabbed several people, including two children and a Sam's Club employee on March 14, 2020.
Gomez III received no fines during the trial. Gomez III received 25 years on the first hate crime count, 10 years on the second hate crime count, and another 10 years for the third hate crime count. All of these will be served concurrently.
Court documents show that Gomez had never seen the family, but attacked them because he believed they were “from the country who started spreading that disease [COVID-19] around.”
Gomez held a knife he found in the store in a way that the blade rested against his knuckles with the sharp side facing out. He punched the father of the family in the face, cutting him. He then got another knife and attacked the two children, who were two and six years old at the time.
Zach Owens, a Sam's Club employee, stepped in and held Gomez down. Owens was stabbed in the process. Bernie Ramirez, a Customs and Border Protection agent, also helped hold Gomez down.
While he was on the ground, Gomez yelled "Get out of America!" at the family.
He was indicted on three counts of committing a hate crime in June of 2020, before pleading guilty to all three counts in February of 2022.
Gomez was also indicted on two state counts of assault on a public servant for attacking corrections officers just days after he was booked into the Midland County jail for the Sam’s Club attack.
According to District Attorney Laura Nodolf, Gomez is also facing pending state charges for three counts of attempted capital murder and one count of aggravated assault pertaining to this case. Now that he has been sentenced for the federal charges, Nodolf says the state can now proceed with its charges.