LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A decide Tuesday ordered the previous proprietor of the positioning of the town of Las Vegas’ deadliest to serve as much as 4 years in jail.
Adolfo Orozco-Garcia, 49, initially confronted 27 prices associated to the December 2019 hearth that killed six tenants: Donald Keith Bennett, 63; Tracy Ann Cihal, 57; Francis Lombardo Jr., 72; Cynthia Mikell, 61; Kerry Marie Odo-Baclaan, 46; and Henry Lawrence Pinc, 70.
“This is an unprecedented case,” Clark County District Court docket Choose Jacqueline Bluth stated earlier than sentencing Orozco-Garcia to 19-48 months in jail. “There are a lot of people responsible for this. It is my job to look at what is Orozco-Garcia’s responsibility and what is justice when it comes to him.”
The hearth injured 13 folks and left greater than 50 homeless. It’s the deadliest hearth inside Las Vegas metropolis limits.
Adolfo Orozco-Garcia, 49, initially confronted 27 prices associated to the December 2019 hearth that killed six tenants: Donald Keith Bennett, 63; Tracy Ann Cihal, 57; Francis Lombardo Jr., 72; Cynthia Mikell, 61; Kerry Marie Odo-Baclaan, 46; and Henry Lawrence Pinc, 70. (Las Vegas Hearth & Rescue)
In January, Orozco-Garcia took a plea deal, avoiding a prolonged trial scheduled to start in February. Orozco-Garcia requested Bluth to condemn him to probation. His attorneys argued he didn’t have a say within the day-to-day operations of the buildings and that some tenants have been troublesome.
In making her determination, Bluth stated she believed Orozco-Garcia knew concerning the constructing’s deplorable situations, including that probation was not acceptable.
The hearth ripped via the three-story constructing on ninth Avenue and Ogden Avenue. An investigation revealed it began when somebody used their range for warmth. The flames shortly unfold, filling different flats and hallways with hearth and heavy smoke. The victims all probably turned disoriented by the quantity of smoke, prosecutors stated.
In response to a number of lawsuits, the constructing didn’t have working hearth alarms or sprinklers. In 2023, a decide signed off on a confidential civil settlement.
Orozco-Garcia agreed to an Alford plea on two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one cost of wanton disregard of security leading to substantial bodily hurt or demise, paperwork stated. An Alford plea, basically a plea of no contest, means a defendant doesn’t admit guilt, however believes prosecutors had sufficient proof to persuade a jury to convict. Orozco-Garcia admitted the deal meant he might have served much less time ought to a jury have convicted him.
On the time of the hearth, Orozco-Garcia owned and operated 30 low-income properties in 4 states, together with Nevada. Orozco-Garcia later offered the 41-unit constructing. It was redeveloped and named the DLUX Lofts a yr after the hearth.
Bluth’s sentence means Orozco-Garcia can be eligible for probation after serving 19 months. The utmost time he might serve is 4 years. She allowed him to stay out of custody and self-surrender in 90 days.
The hearth marks the deadliest within the metropolis of Las Vegas’ historical past. The 1980 hearth on the then-MGM Grand, positioned in unincorporated Clark County and never the town of Las Vegas, killed 87 folks.
