A 34-year-old Oceanside gang member with a long history of violence was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his role in a 2007 gang shooting that injured three teens.

Martin Anthony Englebrecht was found guilty in April of three counts of attempted murder and witness intimidation. Allegations of gun use, causing great bodily injury and gang membership, along with Englebrecht's prior convictions, contributed to his prison term of 235 years to life.

Superior Court Judge Runston Maino noted that the notion of "235 years to life" is nonsensical, but he affirmed the necessity of locking up Englebrecht for life.

"He continues to terrorize the community every time he's out of prison," Maino said.

At 17, Englebrecht was part of a group that jumped into a parked van and ripped rings and necklaces from young women before shooting out the window, according to court documents. A year later, he held up a taco shop at gunpoint.

In 1994, he stole a wallet and backpack from people in a car, then shot at the vehicle, according to court documents. Other arrests were in connection with robberies, assaults and drug crimes.

Englebrecht filed an appeal within an hour of his hearing in the Vista courtroom. Before he was sentenced Tuesday, Englebrecht told the judge that he was entitled to a new trial because his attorney failed him, and that he believed the prosecution held back evidence. Maino disagreed.

Englebrecht, who has a "San Diego" tattoo on the back of his neck, spoke at length about his intention to live according to his faith.

"I know that God loves me; sometimes he chooses to use people who have been through the worst," Englebrecht said.

His mother and other family members were in court Tuesday. Some of them cried during his statement, which included professions of love for them.

Englebrecht didn't appear to react when Maino handed down his sentence. The prisoner gazed at his family as deputies led him from the courtroom.

The case dates to April 15, 2007, when Englebrecht was hanging out at Oceanside's Fireside Park, Deputy District Attorney Terri Perez said. Rival gang members attending a barbecue there attacked and beat Englebrecht, court documents said.

Seeking revenge and respect, Englebrecht rounded up four fellow gang members and several guns and returned to the park, Perez said.

They couldn't find Englebrecht's attackers, but they encountered three teenagers walking in the 500 block of Fredricks Avenue, according to court documents.

"Where are you fools from?" the gang members asked the teens, who were not members of a gang, Perez said.

The gang members fired about 30 rounds at the teens, Perez said.

One of the victims, Dareius Berry, then 16, was shot in the thigh and shin, according to court documents. Then the shooter began hitting him with the gun. Berry recognized Englebrecht; they lived in the same duplex.

"I'm your neighbor," he pleaded, according to court documents. But Perez said Englebrecht tried to shoot Berry in the head. Berry struggled with the gun and was instead shot through the hand.

Two others were injured, one seriously. All have recovered, Perez said.

The shooting remains under investigation, and no other arrests have been made.

From jail, Englebrecht wrote letters telling associates to offer Berry money and apologies in exchange for not testifying against him, Perez said. If that didn't work, they were to threaten him.

Berry and his family relocated because they feared retaliation for Berry's cooperation with police and prosecutors, Perez said.

Englebrecht's older brother, David Anthony Englebrecht, gained notoriety when he successfully challenged the district attorney's first civil gang injunction, which sought to limit the activities of suspected members of Oceanside's Posole gang starting in 1997.

In 2000, a Superior Court judge concluded David Englebrecht no longer was active in the gang and freed him from the injunction. But he was then included in a 2003 injunction against the gang and convicted of assault in a 2004 gang-related fight.

Martin Englebrecht was born in Oceanside and lived there most of his life, according to court documents. He attended middle school in Carlsbad but dropped out in the eighth grade after he got "messed up" using marijuana, crack cocaine and heroin, he told a psychiatrist who interviewed him in jail last month.

Call staff writer Sarah Gordon at 760-740-3517.