Judge reduces life sentence of Santa Rosa man convicted in 2017 home-invasion robbery to 8 years, 8 months

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A judge reduced a life sentence to eight years in prison for a man convicted in 2019 for a home-invasion robbery, according to a statement Tuesday from the office of Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez.

Yacob Dawit Dain, 37, of Santa Rosa, was originally sentenced in June 2019 to 57 years to life following his conviction for a home invasion robbery, burglary and kidnapping committed in 2017.

Dain and three other suspects who were never captured entered the home on Marsh Road through a kitchen window, and pointed guns at the family, including a 10-year-old child, and assaulted members of the family, according to prosecutors.

Dain had previous convictions for crimes in 2006 connected to his involvement in a street gang that at the time counted as strikes under the state's three strikes law.

Dain appealed the sentence and in December 2021, the state court of appeals ruled that recent changes in the law required the lower court to determine whether the defendant's prior conduct still qualified as strikes, according to the announcement.

Rodriguez's office concluded that only one of Dain's two convictions should count as a strike and urged the court to reduce Dain's sentence to 27 years and 8 months.

On Monday, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Bradford DeMeo struck down both prior strikes and resentenced Dain to 8 years and 8 months in state prison.

The resentencing ensures Dain's eventual release from prison, according to District Attorney Rodriguez. She called the sentence insufficient and said the case highlights a troubling pattern statewide in the reduction of serious consequences for recidivist offenders.

"This was an incredibly violent act committed against a family in their homes late at night, including against a child victim," Rodriguez said. "The defendant entered through the kitchen window with associates and terrorized the victims. At least two of the offenders carried firearms, and there were multiple threats to kill at least one of the victims. Further, this defendant has not remained crime-free in this community for any length of time since becoming an adult."