By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

An 11-year prison sentence was handed down Thursday after Angel Ortiz pleaded no contest to aggravated robbery and felonious assault.

Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold sentenced the 18-year-old Brownsville, Texas man to consecutive terms of seven years for first-degree aggravated robbery and four years for second-degree felonious assault. Ortiz will be subject to five years of mandatory post-release control upon his release from prison and must pay $46,103.46 in restitution to the victim in the case.

Additional charges that occurred in the county jail will not be brought against Ortiz in return for his plea. Those charges involved Ortiz possessing a weapon in a detention facility – a second-degree felony – though Leuthold and assistant prosecutor Ryan Hoovler indicated that more could have been brought before the court.

The incident that brought about Ortiz’s charges occurred around 2 a.m. on June 23. The victim in the case, Cesar Fuentes, was contacted by an ex-girlfriend, Carolina Solano, who was interested in meeting up with him. The text conversation eventually led to Fuentes agreeing to meet with Solano in Galion near the McDonald’s restaurant.

According to Hoovler, Solano arrived at the designated spot and hugged Fuentes when Ortiz, who was two weeks away from his 18th birthday and dating Solano at the time, and another minor got out of a car. Ortiz stabbed Fuentes in the back of his leg and buttock area. Though Fuentes was able to escape, McDonald’s video surveillance showed him running away with Ortiz and the minor chasing Fuentes down, taking his cell phone, and breaking his femur bone.

“They left him lying on the ground as they drove away,” Hoovler stated.

The minor co-defendant has been transported to Texas, where he is originally from, to be dealt with in juvenile court. Solano is currently charged with second-degree felony complicity.

“I’ve been in many conversations with the victim in the case,” Hoovler said. “He believes the defendant deserves every bit of that (prison sentence).”

Hoovler added that the victim, who is in his late teens, is still struggling with his injuries and the cost of his medical bills.

“What happened that night, we don’t dispute in any way shape or form,” said defense attorney Adam Stone. “This behavior is really the antithesis of the life he’s lived . . . this does not have to be the defining moment of his life.”

Leuthold noted issuing the punishment was a struggle for him, especially when felonies of this caliber are typically perpetrated by someone who is older and has a criminal record.

“Mr. Ortiz appears to be everything his counsel says,” Leuthold commented. “I’m going to take away basically his entire 20s and serve that in prison. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Leuthold tempered that with the knowledge of the repercussions of the case, noting that Ortiz devastated the victim’s life.

“It brings the court no pleasure to do this, but, to make this clear, this court has a duty to protect the county,” Leuthold said.