A 34-year-old man who fled to Mexico after a sexual assault on an underage girl in Puna more than six years ago won’t stand trial.
A 34-year-old man who fled to Mexico after a sexual assault on an underage girl in Puna more than six years ago won’t stand trial.
In a deal with prosecutors, Mauro Martin Ortiz pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree sex assault and unlawful imprisonment. In exchange, six additional charges of first-degree sex assault and five counts of third-degree sex assault were dropped. A kidnapping charge was reduced to unlawful imprisonment.
Ortiz faces a 20-year prison term when he is sentenced at 8 a.m. Jan. 28 by Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura. Under terms of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to seek an extended sentence. Ortiz could have received life in prison with the possibility of parole plus 10 years.
The charges stem from an incident in the early morning hours of June 22, 2008, in Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision, where Ortiz lived at the time.
“Isn’t it true that … you had sexual contact with a person under 16 years of age and this included (sexual intercourse)?” the judge asked Ortiz.
“Yes, your Honor,” Ortiz replied through a Spanish-language interpreter.
“And would it be true that you were at least five years older than this person?”
“Yes, your Honor.”
“Would it also be true that, at that time, you restrained this person, and this would have exposed her to a risk of serious bodily injury?’
“Yes, your Honor.”
Ortiz told Nakamura through the interpreter that he attended the University of Alaska. Brian De Lima, Ortiz’s court-appointed attorney, said his client can converse in English but needs an interpreter for discussing complex legal issues. He added Ortiz’s sister, who was present in the courtroom, served in that capacity for discussions outside the courtroom.
The judge read an immigration statement to Ortiz, who, according to the county Prosecutor’s Office, is a Mexican citizen with legal immigration status. The statement, routinely read to defendants at legal proceedings regardless of citizenship status, advises a conviction could lead to deportation from the U.S. if the defendant is not a U.S. citizen.
De Lima told Nakamura he informed Ortiz there are no guarantees he’ll be allowed to stay in the U.S. after his release from prison.
Ortiz was indicted by a Hilo grand jury July 10, 2008, but police couldn’t find him to arrest him at the time. Numerous media bulletins were issued and he was featured for five months on the public access cable television program “Hawaii Island’s Most Wanted.”
He was apprehended in Mexico and extradited back to the U.S. by the U.S. Marshals’ Hawaii Fugitive Task Force in January.
After the hearing, De Lima said Ortiz has “taken responsibility for his actions.”
“He hopes to serve his sentence and hopefully someday be released after he completes whatever programs are required of him, sex offender treatment. He understands he will have to register as a sex offender,” De Lima said.
Ortiz remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $1 million bail.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.