Plea deals struck in El Sobrante case where man allegedly told victim ‘start digging your own grave’

MARTINEZ — An El Sobrante man was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison in a plea deal, three years after he was charged with a flurry of felonies for allegedly holding a man captive in the crawl space of a home.

Jason Crain, 43, was sentenced March 9 after pleading no contest to false imprisonment, burglary, criminal threats, and child abuse. In exchange, prosecutors dropped kidnapping charges, court records show.

Crain has been in jail awaiting resolution in his case for the past three years, but will receive a total of six years credit for time served with good behavior, records show. Crain’s co-defendant Maria Rincon, 45, was sentenced to a two-year probation term after pleading no contest to assault and false imprisonment.

Crain was arrested and charged in early 2019, after he and Rincon allegedly showed up to an El Sobrante home on Lambert Road, where the victim lived. Police say Crain was angry the resident had misplaced some guns he’d stashed there days earlier.

In his rage, he allegedly led the victim down to the crawl space, put a gun to his head, handed him a shovel, and told him, “Start digging your own grave,” police said in court records.

The victim told police that when the hole was about six feet deep, he climbed inside, listen to Crain rack the gun back, and waited to be shot. But he said his wife saved the day, picking that moment to show up to the home and intervene. After she confronted Crain, he, Rincon, and their son left, authorities said.

The incident sparked a simultaneous investigation into the sale of one of the guns in question, an AR-15, which was sold to a man in Sacramento for $800, according to court records.

Crain has prior convictions for assault, gun possession and corporal injury on a spouse, and was on probation for resisting arrest and theft of a dog, according to court records.