A Vancouver man said he was seeking vengeance against his wife when he met up with a teen for sex at a motel room. But his plan backfired when the girl and her friends robbed him at gunpoint instead.
Alvino Soto-Arriaga, 31, told the judge Thursday that he should have never met up with the 17-year-old girl, who he thought was of legal age, and he should not have called the police.
Soto-Arriaga pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to patronizing a prostitute in connection with the bizarre twist of events and will serve 26 days on a work crew. He initially faced commercial sex abuse of a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, but those charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes said.
“This was a very unusual and specific set of facts that led us to where we are,” Hayes said after the hearing.
Soto-Arriaga was robbed at gunpoint at the Guest House Motel, 11504 N.E. Second St. in Vancouver, on May 26, 2015. Two of the robbers, Cinthya Araiza, then 17, and Selina Quitugua, then 16, had arranged to meet with him so he could pay Araiza for sex, according to court records.
However, the girls and Robert E. Mitchell, then 19, and Tylor M. Myers, then 21, all of Vancouver, planned to rob Soto-Arriaga instead, a probable cause affidavit states.
Araiza and Quitugua were originally charged as adults but later pleaded guilty to amended charges and were sentenced in juvenile court, according to Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Robinson, who initially handled their cases. Their sentencing information was not available late Thursday afternoon.
Mitchell pleaded guilty in December to second-degree robbery with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 21 months. Myers pleaded guilty in November to first-degree robbery and was sentenced to 36 months, Robinson said.
Myers told police he armed himself with a 9 mm handgun, entered the motel room and pointed the firearm at Soto-Arriaga, who was in the shower. Mitchell said he had a silver replica revolver BB gun but denied pointing it at the man, court records state.
The group stole $1,000 in cash and a credit card and apparently split the money, the affidavit said.
During his hearing, Soto-Arriaga’s attorney Jeffrey Holmes said his client was going through a difficult time in his life that led to his poor choice.
Soto-Arriaga said he had recently learned that his son was not his biological son, so he decided to exact revenge with another woman. However, Soto-Arriaga said, he later found out the paternity test was wrong and he was the boy’s father.
Judge Gregory Gonzales told him that it sounds like his entire plan “backfired.”
Gonzales followed the attorney’s agreed-upon recommendation of 90 days with 60 days of the sentence suspended for two years. The remaining balance is to be served on a work crew. Soto-Arriaga was given credit for four days in custody.
