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    • Tyler Freeman was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the “Gilbert Goons” attacks.
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    Tyler Freeman was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the “Gilbert Goons” attacks.

    Online Niel Posted on

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    An 18-year-old was visibly shaken in court after prosecutors detailed what he did during and after the “Gilbert Goons” finger attacks that left the teenagers in hospital.

    During a sentencing hearing Friday, prosecutors showed videotapes of Tyler Freeman’s beatings and played recorded jailhouse phone calls in which he joked about raping teenagers in juvenile detention, planned to take revenge on others and cursed Preston Lord.

    “Tell him I said so, (complaint) Preston Lord,” Freeman said in a call this year, referring to the 16-year-old beaten to death in a gang attack on Oct. 28, 2023. “He’s a (except).”

    Freeman apologized to the court and said the person he was then was not the person he is now. The videos and phone calls were embarrassing for witnesses, he said.

    “I want to be a better person,” Freeman said. “I want to be able to show the victims that I am a changed person. And I’m really sorry for what I did.”

    Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Cohen sentenced Freeman to three years in prison followed by four years of intensive probation in connection with two assaults in late 2022.

    “You didn’t consider the people you loved, the people you hurt. You didn’t consider your family and the pain that is so obvious they suffered,” he told her Cohen. “You have shown no consideration for all the people of Gilbert who are suffering.

    A December investigation The Arizona Republic first linked the killing of the Lord of Goons, a gang of teenagers who recorded their violent attacks on teenagers in parks and parking lots, outside fast food restaurants and at house parties. They shared images in group chats and on social media.

    The attacks, mostly in Gilbert, went unchecked by the authorities for more than a year.

    Freeman was supported in court by his family, who solemnly shook their heads as prosecutors presented evidence.

    His mother told Cohen that her son’s life had changed around the time of the attacks, but said he was a good person who now wanted a fresh start.

    “What played out was horrible, but he took responsibility,” Dawn Freeman said, choking back tears. – I know his heart.

    Cohen asked Freeman to explain some of the comments he made in the prison calls, including the one about Lord.

    Freeman said he became upset after his ex-girlfriend told him another person had bad-mouthed him. The person was a friend of the Lord, he said, so he wanted to kidnap. Freeman admitted he shouldn’t have said that – at the time, he thought it would make him feel better.

    Freeman also explained the origins of the Goons, which authorities have classified as a criminal street gang. Freeman described it as a group of friends.

    He made some friends in middle school, he said, and wanted to impress them because they had drugs. They continued to hang out in high school and he said they liked each other better after he and others got into a fight.

    “I liked the attention I was getting,” Freeman said.

    Everything changed for him after he learned what it was like to be beaten with brass knuckles, he said, and heard a brass knuckle attack the victim, Connor Jarnaganhe had forgiven him.

    “When I heard that, I remember crying because if the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself,” Freeman said. “I would try to get revenge.”

    Gilbert police have been unable to connect the teenager’s beating to the group of attackers

    Freeman was convicted in 2023 of two attacks that Gilbert police were unable to connect to the Goons.

    Police and prosecutors treated Freeman as a lone attacker in the two joint cases, although reports at the time noted that the attacks involved groups of teenagers.

    At the time, police said Freeman carried out “unprovoked attacks” on random strangers with his friends. The teenager also admitted to “several incidents of leaving home with the plan to attack people for no reason”.

    Freeman was detained for nearly three months before being placed on probation and ordered to spend five months in a behavioral health facility.

    A report obtained by The Republic in June revealed that Gilbert police investigated Freeman’s attacks obtained evidence that Goons had bragged about attacking “30+” people. months before the Lord was killed, but rejected it as baseless.

    Prosecutors shared some of that evidence — Snapchat messages — during Friday’s hearing. They included Freeman telling his friends that they should kill cops and become an official gang already.

    Freeman was convicted in the Goons’ attacks on the house party, In-N-Out Burger

    Freeman’s attorney said his client’s case is unusual because the new arrests overlapped with his juvenile rehabilitation efforts. Freeman was making progress in recovery when he was arrested and charged as an adult in other battery cases, he said.

    “He’s being punished for something that predates all the work he’s done and all the crimes he’s committed that brought him to juvenile court, which is not the usual progression,” Gregory Zamora said after the hearing.

    Police arrested Freeman this year in connection with four beatings since 2022, but he was charged in only two. He pleaded guilty in August to both counts.

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    “Gilbert Goons” party bash November 2022: 4 arrests

    Nine people attacked a teenager outside a house party near Higley and Riggs roads. Brass joints were used. Four people were arrested in January 2024.

    On November 22, 2022, a victim was beaten after asking people to leave a house party in Gilbert. The attack was filmed and showed nine people surrounding the teenager, taking turns punching and kicking him.

    The attack was not reported until January 4, 2024. Police arrested Freeman, William Owen Hines, 18, Jacob Meisner, 17, and Kyler Renner, 19. Hines did not enter a plea; Meisner admitted his role and received probation. Renner was not charged.

    Hines and Meisner are among them seven charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in killing the Lord. All pleaded not guilty.

    Freeman was also charged with an assault on Dec. 2, 2022, in the Gilbert In-N-Out Burger parking lot.

    And that fight was recorded. In one clip, Freeman taunts someone in a fight, saying, “Step on me, (expletive).” He starts throwing more punches as others jump. Another 26-second clip shows the victim being dragged, pushed and punched by multiple attackers among a crowd of teenagers.

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    December 2022 In-N-Out ‘Gilbert Goons’ Gang Fight: 3 Arrests

    Seven people are involved in an attack that left several victims injured. Brass joints were used. Three people were arrested in January 2024.

    Police responded to a “fight call” that night but left after saying they found no evidence of a struggle. They launched a new investigation in January after receiving videos of the attack.

    Three people told police they were assaulted in the gang attack, but only one was willing to press charges. He said Freeman beat him with brass knuckles.

    Freeman, Hines and 21-year-old Jacob Pennington were arrested and charged with assault. Hines pleaded not guilty and Pennington pleaded guilty and received three years of probation.

    Cohen sentenced Freeman separately in each count of battery.

    In the home count, he ordered Freeman to serve three years for attempted aggravated assault and to serve 2 1/2 years for aggravated assault concurrently.

    For the In-N-Out attack, Cohen sentenced Freeman to four years of intensive probation after his release from prison.

    The judge told Freeman he was lucky in one respect.

    “I think you’re fortunate that you’re not one of the co-defendants in another case that I have in front of me who face far more significant outcomes,” Cohen said. “Not for lack of effort, because your behavior could easily have caused a death. As did their behavior.”

    Elena Santa Cruz is a criminal justice reporter for The Republic. Get to her at [email protected]. Follow X @ecsantacruz3.

    Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Get to him at [email protected]. Follow X @robertanglen.

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