Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood will face a separate trial in federal court after investigators found they were allegedly possessing weapons illegally.
Officials say numerous guns were found hidden in the attic of Norwood's home. The cache found included an assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, a revolver, a semiautomatic pistol, a .22 and magazines capable of holding 30 rounds. The arms allegedly belonged to Sanchez, the accused aggressor in the Stow beating.
The federal indictment was handed to the suspects' attorneys in a hearing on Tuesday to set a date for the preliminary hearing. The charges mean that if convicted, the pair could face an additional 5.5 years in prison for the gun charges.
Neither Sanchez nor Norwood was supposed to have any guns. Sanchez has eight previous arrests on his record, including DUIs, a weapons violation, drugs and a high-speed chase. Norwood was also prohibited from having a weapon, according to the indictment.
The preliminary hearing has been set for May 30. Prosecutors are expected to call at least 22 civilian witnesses and several police officers to testify against the defendants. Dorene Sanchez, the driver of the car the suspects were in the night of the beating, is expected to be one of the main witnesses. She has not been charged in the crime.
Norwood and Sanchez, both of Rialto, were arrested in July and have pleaded not guilty to one count each of mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury.
Stow, a paramedic from Santa Cruz, was attacked in the Dodger Stadium parking lot by two men wearing Dodgers clothing on opening night, March 31. Stow suffered severe brain injuries and continues to recover.
It was a year ago that LAPD arrested Giovanni Ramirez for the crime. But with continued investigation, detectives turned their sights on Sanchez and Norwood. Gilbert Quinones, Sanchez's attorney, posed the possibility that Sanchez was misidentified as the attacker just as Ramirez was.
"There were a lot of fights that day, a lot of incidents and we just got to sort out whether this is the right incident or not," Quinones said.
According to the complaint, the two were involved in several drunken confrontations at Dodger Stadium on opening day. LAPD is still looking for two unidentified fans who were also victimized but have not come forward.