Pleading guilty to a criminal charge is a big, drastic decision that should only be arrived at with thorough contemplation and the honest advice from a criminal defense attorney. There are some extreme situations when a guilty plea is a safe choice, and there are also times when persuading a defendant to do otherwise is impossible.
In the case of a defendant charged with burglary and attempted sexual assault in Colorado, he’s reportedly been convinced to plead guilty to those charges in exchange for some leniency in his sentencing. But pleading guilty isn’t all he’s reportedly giving to authorities in order to avoid the harshest of criminal sentencing. This is the first of two posts related to this criminal case.
According to news reports, various officials in other states outside of Colorado suspect that this defendant might be responsible for sex assaults that have occurred in their jurisdictions. The sentencing related to his guilty pleas in the Colorado criminal cases could depend on how helpful the suspect is in answering authorities’ questions about these other estimated 40 rapes that he’s supposedly connected to.
As is, the sex assault defendant faces some pretty lengthy sentencing for the attempted rape and burglary offenses, not to mention the sentencing he faces for a recent attempted murder conviction. The following is how the separate sentencing for each conviction could break down:
- Attempted murder: 64-year prison sentence
- Attempted sexual assault: 6-year prison sentence
- Burglary: 24-year prison sentence
The next post will continue with this story and further explain why this particular suspect decided to cooperate with the plea deal. That’s a game-changing decision in a criminal case.
Source
The Pueblo Chieftain: “Bruce pleads guilty to attempted rape,” Jeff Tucker, Oct. 6, 2011