Woman pleads guilty to smash-and-grab at Palm Desert jewelry store, sentenced to probation plus 60 days in jail
A 23-year-old woman pleaded guilty today to her involvement in an armed robbery at a Palm Desert jewelry store more than one year ago and was immediately sentenced to 60 days in county jail and two years of formal probation.
Tracy resident Karina Monique Ortega pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony count of organized retail theft with intent to sell/exchange/return merchandise, according to court records. She had one felony count each of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon by
force to cause great bodily injury dismissed.
Immediately after, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Charles Stafford sentenced her to 60 days in county jail and two years of formal probation, according to Riverside County District Attorney's office spokesman John Hall. She's set to surrender to the court March 1 to begin her jail sentence.
Ortega was accused with Demetrius Marquise Thornton, 24, of Colton, and Compton resident Joshua King, 28, who are each charged with one felony count of robbery, according to court records. Thornton additionally faces one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon to cause great bodily injury and King one felony count each of assault with a gun and being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm.
They're suspected of robbing a jewelry store owner with San Pedro resident Rayjon Jamell Thorton, 26, who pleaded guilty Jan. 25, 2023, to one felony count each of robbery and being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm.
He was sentenced to eight years and four months in state prison.
Palm Desert sheriff's station deputies responded to the jewelry store in the 73200 block of Highway 111 on June 28, 2022, after a report of an armed robbery, according to Sgt. Daniel Milbrandt of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
"Three suspects entered the business, held the owner at gunpoint, and stole jewelry before fleeing the store,'' Milbrandt alleged.
During a preliminary hearing for King at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Deputy District Attorney Sanja Stark said the defendant was picked up from Long Beach the day of the robbery and, with the other defendants, went to the jewelry store in Palm Desert.
Stark alleged that the three male defendants entered the jewelry store, smashed the display cases and took pieces of jewelry as King pointed a firearm. She added that at some point, the jewelry store owner was struck on the head with a hammer by another defendant.
"The Palm Desert Investigations Bureau assumed the investigation and, over the past six months, worked to identify the four suspects involved,'' prosecutors said.
Rayjon Thornton was arrested Aug. 9, 2022 in Commerce and Demetrius Thornton was arrested in Adelanto, Milbrandt said. King was arrested Jan. 4, 2023, in Compton.
Ortega had a warrant issued for her arrest, but posted $30,000 bail and remained out of custody.
King remains held at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta and Thornton at the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, both without bail, according to inmate records.
