SAN BERNARDINO - San Manuel Indian and San Bernardino County district attorney officials deny that $22,500 in political contributions from the tribe to District Attorney Michael Ramos affected the plea deals that could allow two tribal members to avoid prison for their parts in plotting to kill a man in 2006.

On Friday, Assistant District Attorney Dennis Christy denied the connection.

"I can't emphasize that enough," Christy said.

Christy said Ramos did not provide any input into the decision by prosecutors to support an April 17 plea agreement in the murder-for-hire case against tribal members Stacy Cheyenne Barajas-Nunez, 26, and her brother, Erik Barajas, 36.

Under state law, they could have faced up to life in prison if convicted by a jury on their original charges, which included murder conspiracy.

The pair are expected to be sentenced to home monitoring as part of their plea agreement when they go to San Bernardino County Superior Court on Thursday. Barajas-Nunez could be sentenced to one year of electronic monitoring, while her brother could receive six months, according to court records.

Judge Michael Dest could then reject the plea agreement he signed in April or go through with the sentencing as expected.

According to their plea agreements, Barajas-Nunez pleaded guilty to attempted murder, as well as to transporting a controlled substance and possessing narcotics in jail.

Her plea agreement, according to state sentencing guidelines listed next to her charges, shows she risks 27 years in prison if she violates her probation.

Barajas pleaded guilty to assault with a firearm as well as the gang enhancement. His maximum is eight years if he violates his probation, his plea agreement says.

Attorneys who negotiated the plea agreements have repeatedly declined to discuss how the plea agreements were reached.

The man Barajas and Barajas-Nunez plotted to kill said he believes the tribe's political contributions bought the siblings a light sentence. Leonard Epps, who has been in hiding for more than two years, emerged briefly last week to criticize the plea deals.

California Secretary of State records show the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has contributed $22,500 to Ramos since 2001. Records show most of that money, $12,000, was given in June 2007 and in May this year.

Epps' attorney, Frank Peterson, said anyone else convicted of the same crimes as the Barajas siblings would have been sent to prison. He said the pair faced life in prison if they had been convicted on their original charges of conspiracy to commit murder.

Peterson said he has never seen anyone receive house arrest for crimes that would have sent any other felon to prison.

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The attorney said judges generally have a wide latitude in sentencing when a case is settled before trial. He said judges generally stick to penal code sentencing ranges once defendants are convicted at trial.

Peterson said the facts in this case are solid.

"If you add them all up," said Peterson, "these guys could have gone away for a very long time."

James Ramos, chairman of the wealthy San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, said Friday that his tribe's donations did not play any role in the plea agreements.

"There is no reason why this tribal government would want to give special treatment to any member who has broken the law," Ramos said.

Ramos, no relation to District Attorney Michael Ramos, said the tribe is taking disciplinary steps against the pair. He declined to elaborate.

4 Others Sentenced

Epps, 37, has filed a $50 million lawsuit against a half-dozen people who were originally charged in the murder-for-hire scheme against him.

Named as defendants, in addition to the Barajas siblings, are Al Hernandez, 39, of Fontana, and his brother, Salvador Orozco Hernandez, 43, of Bloomington, identified in court records as a top Mexican Mafia kingpin in the San Bernardino area.

The Hernandez brothers were each sentenced in August to nearly a decade in prison for their roles in the murder plot.

Also named were Jesus Leyva, 34, and Jennifer Murphy, 27, who were also convicted for their roles in the same deal.

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Under the plot, Epps was supposed to be shot with a .40-caliber Glock pistol on Sept. 30, 2006, court records show.

His assassination date came about five months after a confrontation with Barajas-Nunez at The Brass Key, a popular Highland bar he managed.

"This whole thing went down because (Epps ticked) off the wrong people," said San Bernardino police Sgt. Steve Filson, a top investigator in the case. "Stacy was the one who got the ball rolling."

Police found out about the murder-for-hire plot while investigating the methamphetamine trade in the Inland area in May 2006. San Bernardino police quietly spirited Epps away a few days before he was supposed to be shot. He has been in hiding ever since.

Filson also said he was disappointed in the plea agreements.

"How this deal came about was a complete surprise to us," Filson said. "We kept asking when we were going to have a preliminary hearing. I would rather have presented the evidence to a jury."

Filson said undercover officers and an informant risked their lives as part of an investigation that consumed countless hours.

Sizable Sum

The amount donated by the tribe to the district attorney's campaign is a sizable sum in a county-level race, said Jack Pitney, a Claremont McKenna College political science professor.

"It's the kind of figure a politician would notice," Pitney said. "Contributions don't buy you a policy, they don't buy you a decision. They buy you an open door."

In addition to the campaign contributions, the San Manuel tribe contributes indirectly to the district attorney's office by giving money to a state-managed pot of gambling dollars meant to address casino impacts, such as traffic and crime.

That money, known as the special distribution fund, is doled out by a committee of local officials known as the Indian Gaming Local Benefit Committee.

On Friday, Jane Allen, a special assistant to the district attorney, said her office received $209,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30. She said that money helped to pay for a prosecutor and a victim's advocate.

Allen said her office files an average between 200 to 250 cases annually -- for crimes involving theft, fraud, drugs or alcohol -- stemming from casino operations.

Reach John F. Berry at 909-806-3058 or jberry@PE.com