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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
A plea agreement was put on hold Tuesday in the case against six former Las Vegas High School football players accused of sodomizing fellow players in 2008.
Steven Garcia stood before a judge in Santa Fe to enter his plea as one of the victim’s parents protested.
The judge said he needs more time to evaluate reports and letters from parents before making a decision. He is the latest former athlete to enter a plea in the case.
Garcia pleaded to rape and other charges in a way that allows him to maintain his innocence, but admits he’d be found guilty in court.
Garcia is one of six boys accused of using a broomstick to sexually assault fellow Las Vegas Robertson teammates during an August 2008 football camp.
Under the plea, Garcia would be treated as a juvenile and spend one year or less in detention. Parents of one victim said, “No deal.”
“Mr. Garcia must answer these charges once and for all. We hope Mr. Garcia has a promising future but we do believe he must first accept and admit he did something very terrible to our son,” said victim’s parent Mike Melton.
“Regardless of how Mr. Garcia deals with his own personal responsibility, a guilty plea is a guilty plea and he would have been deemed to have been convicted under the laws of the state of New Mexico,” said special prosecutor Henry Valdez.
Valdez said that means even with the plea Garcia would be considered convicted under state law.
Valdez said many of the victims want to put the incident behind them and trying Garcia as an adult could be difficult because he’s a first-time offender.
The judge isn’t expected to announce a decision on the plea and sentence until May.
