Jacob Pennington sentenced following one of his east Valley teen violence arrests

PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. - Twenty-year-old Jacob Pennington was sentenced on June 10 following one of his arrests tied to the east Valley teen violence cases.

Pennington admitted to being part of the Gilbert Goons, now classified as a criminal street gang. He is not accused in the death of 16-year-old Preston Lord.

Monday's sentencing comes after a Pinal County Sheriff's Office investigation.

Court documents say in an unprovoked attack, Pennington hit the victim in the face several times before taking off his belt, whipping the victim, then getting on top of the victim and holding him down while allowing others to kick and beat him.

This allegedly happened as the victim and a friend were leaving a bonfire on the night of Nov. 18 of last year.

Pennington reportedly told investigators that the fight in question started because he was defending his female friend who he says was hit by the victim.

Pennington was arrested on Jan. 10 of this year.

Jacob Pennington

Judge Danielle Harris sentenced Pennington to three years of supervised probation and 120 days of deferred jail time.

The victim and his mother noted the attack was three weeks after the beating death of Lord.

"Imagine the terror our son experienced as he tried to reason with someone who had blood lust in his eyes," the mother said.

The victim spoke as well.

"Thoughts of Preston Lord filled my mind as he had been killed just three weeks earlier under similar circumstances. I was filled with terror as I quickly realized the great danger I was in. My mind flooded with panic as I scanned a group of roughly 15 people and knew they were all about to attack me," the victim said.

Pennington is scheduled for a separate sentencing on Thursday for his involvement in beating another teen in the east valley – this time in Maricopa County.