By Andy Hoffman
The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa
BURLINGTON, Iowa — The sentencing for a man who last week entered guilty pleas to attacking two Des Moines County correctional officers was continued Monday because his pre-sentence report had not been completed.
Jorge Sanders-Galvez, 24, told Senior District Judge John Linn he did not want to proceed to sentencing until the judge had the opportunity to read his pre-sentence report, which court officers say is often a"snapshot” of a person’s life, including family background, education, possible substance abuse problems and prior criminal record.
Many times, judges use a pre-sentence report to to see if there are any mitigating factors which would impact the sentence being imposed at that time.
However, authorities seemed perplexed Monday by Sanders-Galvez’s decision to postpone his sentencing for attacking a correctional officer at the Des Moines County jail because he already had a pre-sentence report completed earlier this year in an unrelated conviction for first-degree murder.
Sanders-Galvez’s first pre-sentence report was completed after a jury found him guilty last December of murder in the March 2016 of Kedarie Johnson, 16, a gender-fluid Burlington High School student. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in that case.
After conferring for a second time with his court-appointed attorney, William Monroe, Sanders-Galvez reiterated his desire to postpone his sentencing. Linn said it was Sanders-Galvez’s constitutional right to continue the hearing until the pre-sentence report is done.
Linn set Sanders-Galvez’s sentencing for July 9.
Last week, Sanders-Galvez entered guilty pleas to willful injury, a class C felony, and assault on a correctional officer, an aggravated misdemeanor, in connection with the jail attacks, which occurred in December after a correctional officer found him and Earl Booth-Harris, 26, also a convicted murderer, making “hooch” in a cell in the maximum security unit. Also pleading guilty was convicted armed robber Bobby Joe Morris, 27.
The convictions carry a possible prison sentence of up to 12 years, the term added to Booth-Harris’ life sentence and Morris’ 25-year term.
©2018 The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa)