His voice sometimes breaking, the husband of a woman raped and sodomized during the robbery of a South Ogden jewelry store said his family's life was changed forever by two men he called "parasites."
"She was a fiercely independent woman who had a job she loved," he said. "She was a happy grandma. After April 18, 1994, our life was changed by the subhuman acts of these two cowards."In 2nd District Court on Monday, the man described how his once-confidant wife now hides behind locked doors, is unable to work and is plagued by nightmares of what happened at John's Jewelry.
He told how she lived in fear that she had contracted HIV from one of the men who raped her in front of her co-workers. Only after Jose Estrada's conviction did she learn his tests were negative. But she did contract hepatitis from him.
"I pray you will put these parasites away for a long, long time so our family can begin healing," he said.
Judge Stanton Taylor sentenced Estrada, 28, and Emilio Beltran-Felix, 35, to 75 years to life at the Utah State Prison. Under the mandatory sentences, neither man will be eligible for parole until he has served at least 75 years.
In January, a jury convicted the two of 10 first-degree felonies of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery for taking almost $400,000 in jewelry and cash during the robbery.
"I'm glad it's over for the victims," Weber County Attorney Mark DeCaria said after the sentencing. DeCaria had argued for the stiffest possible sentence.
"I never once ever heard anyone say I'm sorry," DeCaria said.
Beltran-Felix maintains that it was his twin brother and Estrada who committed the crime.
But defense attorney John Caine said Estrada has expressed remorse. In the presentence report, Estrada told evaluators: "I was on drugs and I don't remember anything. I feel bad because what I did was wrong."
Both men say they want to appeal. However, Caine said an appeal is unlikely.
Much of the case against Estrada and Beltran-Felix rested on the testimony of the five people who were tied up and held on gunpoint during the robbery. At the trial, each one pointed decisively to the two men, identifying them as the robbers who threatened, robbed and raped the woman.
Estrada, Beltran-Felix and a third man were arrested at a traffic stop in Davis County after the robbery.
Although the men are suspected of being illegal aliens from Mexico, prison authorities said the two will not be turned over to Immigration and Naturalization Service agents until they serve at least 75 years.