Man charged in burglaries granted mitigation hearing
An attorney for a San Luis man arrested in connection with a string of burglaries asked for a mitigation hearing on Wednesday after being informed about the sentence her client was to receive.
During what was to be Ivan Vieyra’s sentencing, Superior Court Judge Brandon Kinsey informed attorney Cynthia Brubaker, of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, that he intended to impose a presumptive prison sentence of 3 1/2 years, with credit for 249 days previously served.
Brubaker, who has been assigned to represent Vieyra, immediately requested a mitigation hearing, which Kinsey granted and scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 28.
During a mitigation hearing, the defendant’s attorney presents evidence or testimony to show why their client should receive a lesser sentence. However, the prosecution can also present evidence or testimony in an attempt to get the judge to impose a harsher sentence.
Vieyra, who remains in custody at the Yuma County jail on $5,000 bail, has pleaded guilty to one count of burglary under a plea deal offered to him by the prosecution. In return for his guilty plea, charges of theft of means of transportation and theft against him were dismissed.
He had been in the county jail’s restoration to competency (RTC) program since his arrest last year, but Judge Kinsey ruled at the start of a change of plea hearing last month that Vieyra was mentally competent to stand trial on the charges against him.
In July of 2017, San Luis police responded to a report of a residential burglary in the 200 block of Independence Street in which the suspects took multiple household items and stole a vehicle from the residence.
A few hours later, the vehicle was located by the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office at the 300 block of May Avenue in Yuma, and the suspects were arrested.
A co-defendant in the case, Jesus Arbizo, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in November of 2017 and given credit for 109 days previously served for one count of burglary.