Trial date set after taxi driver rejects plea offer
A San Luis taxi driver awaiting trial in Yuma County Superior Court for allegedly sexually molesting a 7-year-old girl had a hearing on Thursday in which he turned down a plea offer.
Luis Gilberto Ozuna appeared in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Roger Nelson, with his attorney Robert Bleich, who requested that a Donald hearing be held.
Bleich explained that a settlement conference had been held in the case and the prosecution was willing to revise a plea agreement, but his client doesn’t want to accept it.
He said he wanted his client to be advised of the possible sentences he faces if convicted at trial, compared to what is being offered in the plea.
Nelson granted the request and informed Ozuna that he has been charged with two counts of molestation of a child and faces a combined 20 to 48 years in prison with the presumptive sentence being 34 years.
Under the terms of the plea offer, Ozuna would be sentenced to 10 years in prison, serve lifetime probation, and be required to register as a sex offender.
When Ozuna said that he was rejecting the plea, Nelson responded by saying, “Very well,” and scheduled a trial to begin on Sept. 5
He also scheduled a final pretrial conference for 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 17. Ozuna
remains in custody at the Yuma County jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
According to San Luis police, officers were contacted in November 2022 after the minor told her mother she had been molested by Ozuna.
He was arrested following an investigation in which he was interviewed. Both he and the minor victim are residents of San Luis.
San Luis police did not know at the time whether the sexual abuse of the victim occurred once or on multiple occasions.