Jorge Balderas, 27, withdrew his challenge to his previous guilty plea to second-degree kidnapping by way of his attorney.
Daniel Taylor, the Defense Attorney for Balderas said during a hearing that his client would instead plead guilty an additional charge of intimidating a witness, this way they could ask for a lighter sentence.
Balderas, an illegal migrant and gang member, was arrested two years ago along with three accomplices after the kidnapping and torture of a woman, court documents say.
According to the Post Register:
Balderas was arrested in July 2020 after he and three others reportedly tied a woman to a chair in their basement and tortured her for three days. The victim had lived with Balderas and two of the co-defendants before she was tied up, and had previously been in a relationship with Balderas.
The victim said the defendants beat her, carved a letter into her face with a knife and tormented her with a blowtorch and heated metal tools. Balderas also reportedly poured lighter fluid underneath the victim’s chair and lit it on fire while she was tied to the chair and unable to move.
The victim reportedly escaped after she was able to break free of her bonds and climb out a window.
Balderas will be sentenced for second-degree kidnapping on May 11. which is punishable with up to 25 years in prison. Intimidating a witness is punishable with up to five years in prison.
He has been held at the Bonneville County Jail since 2020 on an ICE detainer.
