ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- A Rock Valley, Iowa, man avoided a lifetime prison sentence Monday by pleading to a lesser charge for killing his grandfather.
Santos Rodriguez Jr. was sentenced to a total of 75 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree arson. District Judge Duane Hoffmeyer sentenced Rodriguez to 50 years in prison on the murder charge and 25 years for the arson charge. Rodriguez must serve 35 years of the sentence before he's eligible for parole.
Rodriguez, 20, had been scheduled to stand trial in September in Sioux County District Court for first-degree murder and first-degree arson in connection with the Oct. 29 stabbing death of Luis Luevanos in his Rock Valley home. Had Rodriguez been found guilty at trial of first-degree murder, he would have received a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Rodriguez will be required to pay $150,000 restitution to Luevanos' estate.
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Rodriguez pleaded guilty to stabbing Luevanos, 84, several times, then setting fire to the bedroom in which Luevanos' body was lying. Firefighters discovered Luevanos' body when they responded to the fire call at his home in the 1400 block of 15th Street. An autopsy showed Luevanos had been stabbed three times.
Rodriguez was arrested Nov. 8 in Utah and, according to court documents, had admitted to stabbing Luevanos and intentionally starting the fire.
In April, Rodriguez' attorney had filed notice that he would be using a diminished capacity defense at trial after an expert had been retained to perform a mental health evaluation of Rodriguez.
Rodriguez
Nick Hytrek
Court Reporter
Hytrek has been at the Journal since 1998, covering courts for much of that time. He is a Nebraska native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate.
