Federico Cortes, 42, of Washington City told Judge Eric Ludlow he disagreed with the allegations that he stomped on the Chihuahua-mix pet three or four times while it was in a black garbage bag, but had been unable to “find enough proof to prove my innocence.”
“I feel bad for my family. … It’s affecting me and my family. Only God knows what happened, and I can’t do anything about that,” Cortes said in Spanish, speaking with the aid of an interpreter.
The no contest plea allows Cortes to disagree with the evidence while nevertheless giving up any claim that he is innocent of the crime.
Deputy County Attorney Laina Arras said a witness saw Cortes stomping on the dog and was troubled by its cries.
The prosecution’s case was strong enough that she was prepared to fight for a conviction at a trial that was scheduled for Friday, she said.
The trial was canceled when Cortes reached a plea deal with the prosecution.
Arras said the prosecution was willing to participate in the plea deal after lengthy negotiations Thursday because of a concern about “what would happen after sentencing” if Cortes’ case had gone to trial.
“We probably got a better sentence than we would have got … after the trial,” she said Friday. “We pushed hard to keep the felony because we felt that this was such an extreme case. It’s probably the worst we’ve seen in the county in quite a while.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Cortes avoids a potential prison sentence of up to five years and will instead serve 90 days in the Purgatory Correctional Facility.
He will be required to undergo a mental health evaluation and to pay court-ordered fines up to $1,500, as well as $566.43 in restitution to the veterinarian that treated the dog.
He was allowed to begin serving the sentence Monday, despite the prosecution’s concerns that he could be a risk for fleeing the area.
The pet Chihuahua-mix, named Nina, did not die after the incident last May but it was severely injured and a veterinarian that examined it “determined the best course of action was to put Nina to sleep due to extensive injuries,” the plea agreement states.
“The defendant did admit to the police officers, ‘Yeah, I was kicking the dog. … I was just trying to get rid of the dog.’ Well, that’s really not the way we get rid of dogs,” Arras told Ludlow.
Cortes told Ludlow he had provided a home for the dog and cared for it, but he and his teenaged daughter agreed to take Nina to the animal shelter because a neighbor had been complaining about Nina’s barking at night.
“I wasn’t expecting nothing bad, but it’s something I can’t prove,” he said.
Defense attorney Tyler Todd told Ludlow that a federal hearing is scheduled in September to determine if Cortes will be deported.
He asked Ludlow to consider reducing the felony charge two levels to a misdemeanor at a review hearing scheduled before September if Cortes is obedient to the terms of his probation.
“That has significant implications for the immigration issue,” he said.
“If he follows this deal, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel,” co-defense counsel Jason Velez said. “His wife is able to petition him. … If he stays in Mexico.”
Velez and Todd were unavailable to respond to questions Friday. Arras said she has been informed by the defense that Cortes is almost certain to be deported but the defense is seeking leniency because of his wife, who is unable to work, and the couple’s three children.
A pet advocate who planned to participate in a demonstration against animal cruelty at the courthouse following Friday’s scheduled trial said she was frustrated when she learned minutes before Cortes’ hearing Thursday that the trial wouldn’t take place – with too little notice for the demonstrators to reschedule their protest at a time when Cortes was at the courthouse.
“We’re happy that we still got the felony. (But) we still wanted his butt in jail for a year,” said Mary Bemis, who co-founded the rescue and adoption organization Providing Animals With Support, which is known more widely as PAWS.
“He comes here for a better life and he stomps animals to death,” Bemis said. “They might do that in Mexico or Guatemala, but not here.”
(The Spectrum - April 24, 2015)
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