Two men plead guilty to robbery of Sky Valley woman
Two parolees who robbed a woman in Sky Valley and left her stranded in the desert pleaded guilty to robbery charges today
Oscar Esqueda, 22, of Palm Desert and Joseph Verdusco, 23, of Coachella, admitted to robbing the victim during the predawn hours of May 2. Esqueda was immediately sentenced to 13 years in state prison for the robbery, while Verdusco is slated to be sentenced in January.
The men also were charged with assault causing great bodily injury, but those counts were stricken as part of a plea deal.
Sheriff’s deputies said the victim was physically assaulted and robbed of unspecified property, and later regained consciousness somewhere in the desert. She walked to a nearby home to notify police, who responded at 4:07 a.m. to the 21500 block of Penny Lane, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Shaun Myers.
The sheriff’s department did not reveal if the woman knew her attackers.
Esqueda also was sentenced to an additional two years in state prison Friday after pleading guilty to a separate assault with a deadly weapon charge.
In that case, prosecutors say he broke a beer bottle over a man’s head in Hemet. After Esqueda was seen arguing and pushing his ex-girlfriend inside a parked car on March 2, 2017, the victim intervened, prompting Esqueda to exit the car and strike him in the face with a bottle, according to an
arrest warrant declaration.
The assault left the man with “a split bottom lip, loose teeth (upper and lower), and a very large hematoma” on the back of his head, the declaration states.
More: I-Team and Stands for You investigations
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