Jefferson Delgado, 29, of Gaithersburg was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County after he was convicted of first-degree attempted murder. The State’s Attorney’s Office said the shooting at Antojitos restaurant in Gaithersburg had been caught on surveillance cameras.
At approximately 1 a.m. April 18, 2021, Delgado was among a group that got into an argument with another group in the restaurant, located on East Diamond Avenue, according to prosecutors.
After the argument between the two groups, surveillance footage shows Delgado retrieved a shotgun from a friend’s vehicle. He opened fire at least twice, hitting the victim with two bullets, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office. The victim was taken to a hospital and survived their injuries.
On March 30, 2023, a jury in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County found Delgado guilty of first-degree attempted murder.
Surveillance footage captured the shooting at 1:22 a.m.
After he opened fire, Delgado ran to a parking garage where surveillance cameras captured him crouching behind a car and running across the lot, gun in hand, attempting to hide the weapon, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Judge Eric Johnson sentenced Delgado to life in prison with all but 30 years suspended. In addition, Delgado must serve five years of supervised probation upon release from prison.
Delgado’s attorney, Jim Shalleck said that they were “disappointed” with the verdict and plan to appeal the sentence and rulings in the trial. Shalleck told MoCo360 that he thought the sentencing was very harsh.