Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced today that on July 10, 2025, the Honorable Judge Hallie Gorman Campbell sentenced 42-year-old Jeffrey Goldstein of Twain Harte to a total of 11 years in state prison. His sentence comes after he committed a series of crimes over the last several years. In 2018, Mr. Goldstein threatened to kill the then owner of the local Grocery Outlet when the owner stopped him walking out of the store stealing merchandise. Mr. Goldstein later failed to appear for the original sentencing hearing on that case which led to his first felony failure to appear case. Subsequently, after being brought back to the court on those cases, he ultimately failed to appear again at another sentencing hearing in 2021 leading to his second felony failure to appear case.
Mr. Goldstein had warrants for those cases outstanding when he stabbed a victim in the abdomen on December 15, 2024 following an act of road rage. While the victim was driving up Highway 108, the driver of the vehicle Mr. Goldstein was a passenger in would not let the victim safely pass. This admittedly upset the victim who honked his horn at that driver. The victim’s wife was in a separate vehicle behind her husband on the highway and witnessed the vehicle ahead of her husband’s crowding and pacing him as her husband went to legally pass that vehicle; however, the driver of that vehicle would speed up, slow down, and brake check to prevent her husband from passing. When it appeared that the other vehicle had a mechanical issue and stopped in the road, the victim felt bad and pulled over to offer assistance while his wife continued on.
Mr. Goldstein then hit the victim in the leg with the passenger door as he opened it, so the victim pushed it back. Mr. Goldstein got out of the vehicle and followed the victim as he walked back to his own vehicle. Mr. Goldstein whispered that the victim hurt him and then stabbed the victim in the abdomen. Mr. Goldstein then kept approaching the victim as the victim backed away from him. When the victim grabbed a drill from his own vehicle to try to protect himself, Mr. Goldstein returned to the vehicle he came in, got in, and fled the scene. A passing motorist captured Mr. Goldstein on video as he returned to that car with a very large knife in his hand.
Law enforcement located Mr. Goldstein during a traffic stop that occurred on December 28, 2024. Mr. Goldstein ran from law enforcement and actively resisted deputies once they caught up with him, struggling for a period of time before law enforcement was able to gain the upper hand and arrest Mr. Goldstein. During a search incident to arrest, deputies found a usable quantity of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia on his person. Mr. Goldstein had previously been convicted of two qualifying drug possession offenses, that under the new law created by the passage of Proposition 36 that went into effect on December 18, 2024, elevated the possession of the methamphetamine to a felony. Mr. Goldstein has been held on no bail at the county jail since that arrest.
At sentencing, the victim, his wife, and their daughter had prepared emotional and powerful victim impact statements that were read in court. The victim recounted how the physical and emotional toll from being nearly disemboweled by the defendant continues to plague him to this day. He also shared that he still has a long road to recovery as he will have to have at least one more surgery to continue to repair the damage Mr. Goldstein caused. The victim vowed, however, to find and walk the long path forward following this harrowing experience despite the uncertainty of what the future holds so he can work towards what his family’s new normalcy will become. His family’s letters revealed that the day Mr. Goldstein stabbed the victim was his 4-year-old granddaughter’s birthday and that the family was getting ready to celebrate with her at her birthday party. The letters shared how this crime will forever impact their family’s interactions with the world around them and that each of them continues to face the fear instilled in them caused by a stranger nearly taking the victim away from them forever. Sadly, the family stated that they all used to be people who would always help someone in need but what Mr. Goldstein did to the victim has forever altered their drive to do so because they fear what could happen to them. Despite everything, the victim stated that while he did not know Mr. Goldstein personally, he wished him well moving forward.
Before pronouncing sentence, the Court noted that the victim’s “words are full of hope and grace.” The Court went on to tell Mr. Goldstein that, “It is up to you to decide how you move forward from this. […] We all have a right to feel safe in this community and you shattered that for this family. […] I hope you reflect on his words.” Moving forward, Mr. Goldstein now has two strikes on his record and the conduct credits he can earn in prison will be limited because the stabbing conviction is considered a violent felony under California law.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Samantha Arnerich.
