PORT TOWNSEND — The court proceedings of the four Port Townsend men who were accused of kidnapping and torturing another man last Nov. 10 have come to a close after the last of the four pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Zachary James Barbee, 44, pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping-deliberate cruelty and the second-degree assault-deliberate cruelty of Dennis Shaw.
On Oct. 8, Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Keith Harper sentenced Barbee to 84 months in prison, according to court documents.
Both the second-degree kidnapping and the second-degree assault are Class B felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Robert John Cuevas, 19, and Isaiah William Peoples-Morse, 18, pleaded guilty to the same charges in July in addition to charges unrelated to the Nov. 10 incident.
Guiseppe Glanz, 20, pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment, a Class C felony, second-degree assault-deliberate cruelty and second-degree robbery-deliberate cruelty in late September.
Barbee — the oldest of the four kidnappers — received the longest sentence due to severity of his actions and that he organized the kidnapping in retaliation to a theft that he believed Shaw had committed, according to court records.
Peoples-Morse of Kelso — who was 17 at the time of the incident and was also facing unrelated charges for theft and residential burglary — was sentenced to five years in custody.
Cuevas, who also faced unrelated charges for possessing a stolen firearm, was sentenced to four years in custody.
Glanz was sentenced to one year and five months in custody.
Each of the four also were ordered to serve a minimum of 18 months of community custody after their release, and they have no-contact orders with Shaw.
Chief Criminal Prosecutor Chris Ashcraft praised Deputy Prosecutor Anna Phillips in a press release.
“It can be challenging to obtain justice for homeless victims since they can be hard to locate and frequently have other personal issues to cope with,” Ashcraft said.
“Anna fought hard for Mr. Shaw and obtained justice for him.”
On Nov. 10, the four trapped, beat and drugged Shaw over the course of several hours in their house, hitting him with fists and clubs. They debated killing him, according to the probable cause report.
Eventually, Shaw was forced to change clothes and lie down in the back of a pickup, according to the police report. He was driven about 8.5 miles from the residence and dumped on or near Anderson Lake Road, where he was found by a person who called 9-1-1.
More of the about the Nov. 10 incident can be read at peninsuladailynews.com/crime/charges-filed-in-alleged-torture.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsula dailynews.com.
