Richard S. Benavente, a firefighter who pleaded guilty to one count of exploitation of a child, has asked to postpone the U.S. government\u2019s sealed motion to declare him in breach of his plea agreement.<\/p>\n
Michael Dotts, Benavente\u2019s new lawyer, said the U.S. government\u2019s motion to declare Benavente in breach of plea agreement is set for a hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, at 1:30pm, and the sentencing hearing will be on Sept. 10, 2014.<\/p>\n
Dotts said Benavente is expected to testify at the ongoing trial of Raymond Borja Roberto, a former acting director of Division of Fish and Wildlife.<\/p>\n
The lawyer said the trial of Roberto does not look likely to end by tomorrow, Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Dotts said that Benavente\u2019s testimony in the Roberto case goes to the heart of the motion, and will likely also be something for the court to consider at Benavente\u2019s sentencing.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Dotts said, Benavente wants to have the motion heard after the Roberto trial is completed.<\/p>\n
Further, Dotts said, the pre-sentence report is complicated and awards an excessive number of points against his client. He said he needs more time to review the pre-sentence report with his client.<\/p>\n
Benavente and his then-court-appointed counsel Mark Hanson signed a plea deal with the U.S. government. It was not clear why Dotts replaced Hanson since the motion to declare Benavente in breach of plea deal is sealed.<\/p>\n
Benavente pleaded guilty in February to a count of sexual exploitation of a child. It was alleged that he enticed two underage girls to have sex with him on June 23, 2013, and on July 10, 2013. A Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent alleged that Benavente took videos of himself having sex with two 15-year-old girls.<\/p>\n
Benavente is still under custody. <\/p>\n
The indictment charged the 43-year-old Benavente with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child.<\/p>\n
Annette N. Basa, who is facing a separate indictment, allegedly offered the girls to the firefighter in exchange for methamphetamine or \u201cice\u201d and an unspecified amount of money.<\/p>\n
The investigation on Benavente led to the filing of charges against Roberto as the latter also allegedly had sex with the same girl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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