Former Local Gets 45 Years For Domestic Violence
Denver, CO — Federal prosecutors say that a former Calaveras County resident has been put away for decades for what they describe as “shocking” violence and cruelty towards his family members.
On May 20 in Denver, former Angels Camp resident Mitchell Lee Gibson, 30, received a 45-year federal prison sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn.
Initially arrested on a criminal complaint filed in March of last year, Gibson had been living on Fort Carson near Colorado Springs with his then-pregnant wife, “J.G.,” an active-duty soldier. In early February of this year, under a plea agreement, Gibson pled guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault of a spouse by strangling and suffocation.
Following an incident on March 25, 2014, the victim had significant, visible injuries. The wife told officers that Gibson was under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication, and that he threatened to hurt her and a child.
Fort Carson police and the FBI, who conducted the investigation, determined that over a period of four days Gibson had whipped his wife with a coaxial cable, which he made her retrieve for him prior to repeated beating attacks, during which he would also choke her with the cable until she blacked out, and then “revive” her by pouring boiling hot water on her. During the assaults, during which he repeatedly kicked her in the abdomen and held a steak knife to her throat, Gibson threatened to kill her, a child and then himself.
After she managed to flee from the vicious attacks, Gibson called her on her phone and, according to the sentencing report, spurred her to call 9-1-1 when he threatened to cut off the fingertips of their one-year-old daughter, who was still inside the home. The victim subsequently revealed to police that she had suffered abuse over the course of the relationship with previous injuries that required medical attention. Investigation into Gibson’s past uncovered a history of violence against women and children that included sexual and physical violence against his previous family.
“Defendant Gibson assaulted his victim in a series of senseless, sadistic attacks that earned him every minute of the stern sentence imposed,” Walsh states. Following his prison sentence, Judge Blackburn additionally ordered that Gibson serve three years on supervised release.
