Abraham Feinbloom expected to plead no contest to torture, manslaughter in T’Neya Tovar case; deal requires him to lead investigators to her remains
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KESQ) Abraham Feinbloom is expected to plead no contest Tuesday to torture and voluntary manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old T'Neya Tovar, a deal that would send him to state prison for 13 years to life and spare him a murder trial.
The plea agreement, filed Monday in Imperial County Superior Court and reviewed by News Channel 3, requires the 51-year-old Salton City man to lead investigators to the rest of T'Neya's body.
Only one of her legs has ever been found. It turned up Dec. 21 in Vista Del Mar, less than a mile from Feinbloom's boarded-up home on Harlequin Court.
The terms of the deal
Feinbloom would plead no contest to two charges: torture, which carries seven years to life, and voluntary manslaughter, which adds a consecutive six years. Both would count as strikes. He gives up his right to appeal and could earn no more than 15% credit toward his time.
The murder charge stays on the books until sentencing. Prosecutors would dismiss it then, but only if Feinbloom holds up his end.
Before sentencing, he must help law enforcement find her remains, which are expected to be at "at least two sites." Investigators can pull him out of the Imperial County jail and drive him there. His attorney and her investigator can follow close behind, but law enforcement decides who rides in the vehicle.
If investigators recover "portions of the victim's torso and head" before sentencing, the murder charge is dismissed. If they don't, the agreement doesn't say what happens next.
Nothing Feinbloom says on those trips, and nothing investigators find because of what he says, can be used against him. The only exception is if he takes the stand and contradicts himself.
In the signed agreement, Feinbloom admits he "engaged in the torture of the victim in this case, causing great bodily injury" and that he "separately … then engaged in the voluntary manslaughter of the victim." A no-contest plea to a felony in California counts the same as a guilty plea.
Acting Assistant District Attorney John Harter signed off on the deal. Sentencing would come about four weeks after the plea. Jury selection had been set to start Oct. 6.
How the case got here
Ten days ago, defense attorney Melanie Roe told a judge she was ready for trial. On Aug. 25, federal agents spent the day digging behind Feinbloom's house and on the lot next door. Nobody said what they were looking for.
T'Neya, of Hemet, was reported missing Dec. 1 after telling her mother she was heading to Palm Springs. A friend dropped her off at Feinbloom's house that day, an FBI agent testified in April. She stopped answering her phone. Her parents drove out again and again asking deputies to check the house. Deputies knocked but never went in.
Feinbloom was arrested Feb. 13 after he jumped a fence trying to get away from a SWAT team. He had a passport and Thai currency on him. He pleaded not guilty to murder five days later. He told an FBI agent he did not know T'Neya. At his preliminary hearing, prosecutors played video of the two of them together inside his home.
Court records uncovered by News Channel 3 show Feinbloom was charged with kidnapping in Imperial County in 2018. Prosecutors dismissed that case the next year, saying they couldn't proceed.
News Channel 3 will be in court tomorrow and have the latest details on the case.
