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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Friday, June 26, 2009
Party Assailant Gets 4 Years
By Vic Vela
Journal Staff Writer
A man involved in a brutal baseball bat attack from 2007 was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday, while his brother could face up to nine years behind bars for his role in what was described by a state District Court judge as a “horrible crime.”
The sentencing of Arthur Ortega, 24, stems from a Dec. 29, 2007, incident where assailants in ski masks and black clothing kicked open the front door of a Santa Fe home where a group of young people was partying. Two people were assaulted with baseball bats and were hospitalized with severe head injuries. Money was also taken from the home.
“As you can imagine, this has been a life-changing even for all victims involved,” said prosecutor Donald R. Sears Jr.
Ortega's four-year sentence — which does not included the 11 months credited for time he has served while awaiting resolution of the case — was part of a plea deal he reached with the District Attorney's Office, pleading guilty to two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
The Ortega brothers, who are from Henderson, Nev., were in Judge Michael Vigil's state District Courtroom in Santa Fe on Thursday. Ortega is the third defendant — along with 19-year-old Aaron Dundas and 14-year-old Shalom Katz — to be sentenced in the attacks.
The fourth, 23-year-old Isaac Ortega — Arthur's brother — could face more time behind bars than any of the other defendants, because he was the main aggressor the night of the attacks. Arthur Ortega's attorney, Joseph Campbell, said prosecutors involved in the cases of all four assailants “have made it very clear that it was Isaac wielding the bat and wreaking havoc” that evening.
Sears acknowledged that Arthur Ortega “was not the one with the bat that night,” but he is still culpable on some level because he was there and because “the injuries were horrendous.”
Isaac Ortega also accepted a plea agreement Thursday. He pleaded guilty to two counts each of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and robbery, as well as one count of aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon.
The younger Ortega could face up to nine years in prison, but will first undergo a 60-day psychological diagnostic before sentencing. Sears told the Journal after Thursday's hearing that he will ask Vigil for the full nine years when Isaac Ortega is sentenced.
The attacks occurred inside a South Capitol home in the 100 block of West Booth Street. Katz — the first assailant to make contact with those inside the home — knocked on the door and said that he “wanted to party with you guys,” according to a police affidavit for a search warrant. Katz became angry and left after he was not allowed inside. Within a half-an-hour, Katz returned with the Ortega brothers and Dundas.
Two males were struck “repeatedly” with bats. Witnesses said they overheard the attackers yell, “Give me your wallet; I'll (expletive) kill you!” the affidavit reads.
Bob Ortega — the father of a 21-year-old victim who is not related to the Ortega brothers — said during Katz's sentencing hearing last June that the attacks left his son with a speech impediment and set him back in school.
Sharon Hopkins, the mother of another 21-year-old victim, said at the same hearing that her son was struck in the head five times.
Katz was ordered to an indeterminate rehabilitation stay at the Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center in Albuquerque, a youth mental health facility. Dundas received a strict probation sentence of five years and a nine-year suspended prison sentence as part of a plea deal he reached with the DA's Office in November.
Police looked for the Ortega brothers for several months after the attacks. Isaac Ortega was taken into custody Sept. 1 after he was arrested in Henderson, Nev., for an unrelated incident. His brother turned himself in to Santa Fe police about a week after Isaac was arrested.
Family members of the victims were in court Thursday, but did not give statements, nor did they comment to the Journal afterward.
“Their hope is to move forward,” Sears said in court, speaking on behalf of the families.
When asked by Vigil whether he had anything to say to the victim's families, Arthur Ortega turned to them and offered his “condolences.”
“There's nothing else I can say,” he said, with a light chuckle.
Before imposing sentence, Vigil said the attacks have caused the victims to have to endure “a horrible nightmare.”
“Really all of you were involved in this gang mentality, this wild pack mentality,” the judge said. “Once you got there, all hell broke lose.”
Vigil recommended that Arthur Ortega be housed in a therapeutic community in prison, where he can receive special help.
“You need to change your life,” the judge told him.
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