CEDAR CITY — The two occupants of a Lamborghini pulled over by police in Iron County on New Year’s Eve have both reached plea agreements in connection with the case.
As previously reported in St. George News / Cedar City News, driver Ricardo Cora and passenger Jennifer Soto were arrested the evening of Dec. 31, 2022, when officers pulled over the gray and red Lamborghini STO luxury sports car that the pair were riding in on northbound Interstate 15 near the Hamilton Fort Exit a few miles south of Cedar City. The vehicle had been reported stolen from a dealership in Las Vegas.
The multi-agency traffic stop and subsequent standoff caused traffic on both sides of I-15 to be shut down temporarily, in addition to the Old Highway 91 frontage road.
Soto, who turned 22 on Jan. 10, appeared in court with her defense attorney Jason Schatz on Jan. 30. She pleaded guilty to one count of attempted receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, a third-degree felony, one count with interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor, and one count of possession or use of a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor.
Fifth District Judge Matthew L. Bell sentenced Soto to 30 days in jail, with credit given for the 30 days she’d served since her Dec. 31 arrest. She was released from jail later that day.
Soto also was given 24 months’ probation, to be supervised by the court. She was fined $500, plus $159 in court security fees.
As Soto lives in Pennsylvania, Bell told her she could appear online for her next probation review hearing, which was scheduled for the afternoon of Oct. 30.
One week after Soto’s sentencing, on the afternoon of Monday, Feb. 6, the 41-year-old Cora, who is reportedly from New York, appeared via WebEx from the Iron County Jail. Cora, who is being represented by Stephen McCaughey, also entered guilty pleas on amended charges, based on a plea agreement that had been worked out by the attorneys on both sides.
Cora pleaded guilty to one count of failure to respond to an officer’s signal to stop, a third-degree felony; one count of unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon, a class A misdemeanor; and one count of assault on a peace officer, a class A misdemeanor.
As part of his plea agreement, five other counts against Cora were dismissed, including a felony charge of possessing or transferring a stolen vehicle, plus misdemeanor charges related to resisting arrest, drug possession and driving on a suspended or revoked license.
At Cora’s sentencing hearing on March 20, Bell sentenced Cora to 36 months of probation and ordered him to pay $1,109 in fines. He was also given 90 days in Iron County Jail, with credit for time served.
Updated March 27, 10:45 a.m. to include Cora’s sentencing information.
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