NAPA COUNTY, Calif. — Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley on Thursday announced the denial of parole for Carlos Gabarrete, age 52, who is currently serving a life sentence in state prison for the sexual assault of a former girlfriend.

The California Board of Parole Hearings denied the prisoner’s parole for five years after a parole suitability hearing that took place on January 31, 2024, via teleconference at California Correctional Institution.

Gabarrete stands convicted of forcible sodomy, forcible oral copulation, assault with a firearm and false imprisonment in connection with an incident that took place on Sept. 21, 1999.

On that day, Gabarrete went to the home of his former girlfriend and lured her from her home by asking for help pulling his vehicle out of a ditch.

When she agreed to help him, he persuaded her to drive him to a secluded location, pulled out a small automatic pistol and threatened to kill her, and struck her in the face with the gun.

While brandishing the gun, Gabarrete forced the woman to orally copulate him, before ordering her into the passenger seat of the vehicle and forcibly sodomizing her. At some point during the sexual assaults, Gabarrete fired one shot from the pistol.

After the sexual assaults, Gabarrete ordered the woman to drive around, pull over and park, and threatened to kill himself. It was only after Gabarrete’s victim agreed to resume their relationship, if he promised to not commit suicide, that he allowed her to drive him to his car and end the incident.

The Napa County District Attorney’s Office routinely sends deputy district attorneys to parole hearings to ensure that victims and their families and friends are considered by the Board of Parole Hearings.

Napa County Deputy District Attorney Rolando Mazariegos, Victim Witness Advocate Alejandra Mendieta-Bedolla, and the victim attended Gabarrete’s parole suitability hearing to argue against his release based on the cruelty and callousness of the sex crimes, his continued lack of remorse or insight into the events of the crimes, his continued criminal activity and ongoing criminal thinking during his incarceration, his refusal of all counseling and coping programs offered in prison, and the extreme danger he presents to the community should he be paroled.

“Mr. Gabarrete is serving a life sentence, but the victim of the crime is serving her own life sentence, emotionally and mentally, as a result of his actions,” Deputy District Attorney Mazariegos said.