The state Board of Parole Hearings denied a release today to a man who was convicted of a 1992 gang murder in West Sacramento, an official with the Yolo County District Attorney's Office said.
Harold Rigsby, now 35, won't be eligible for another parole hearing for five years as a result of the denial issued today by a parole board panel at Pelican Bay State Prison, Yolo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven said.
Rigsby was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the Dec. 14, 1992, shooting death of 23-year-old Pierre Fortier of East Sacramento. Rigsby, a member of the Broderick Boys gang in West Sacramento, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Investigators said the Broderick gang set up Fortier for a beating because he made derogatory remarks about their neighborhood. Rigsby then shot and killed Fortier during the attack, police and prosecutors said.
Rigsby told the parole commissioners that he shot and killed Fortier "because he was loyal to the Broderick Boys gang, which had a reputation to uphold," Raven said in an email.
As an 18-year-inmate, Rigsby joined the Northern Structure prison gang but has since dropped out of the group, Raven said.
Still, the prosecutor said, "The decision to deny parole was a no-brainer."
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