Vern Faus averted a looming jury trial Thursday morning by entering formal guilty pleas to settle two cases, both involving sexual assault.
Judge Michael Schiferl accepted the pleas after lengthy questioning, then ordered Faus to return April 13 for official sentencing.
However, under the conditions of the written plea agreement, Faus, 39, Las Animas, could face a combined prison sentence of up to 13 years.
In the first case, stemming from a June 2008 incident, Faus pleaded guilty to a class 5 felony, attempted criminal sexual assault on a child.
For this revised charge, Faus could serve up to three years in prison, followed by two years of parole.
The second case involved multiple charges stemming from an incident on Aug. 21, 2008, when Faus broke into a home, terrorized and assaulted occupants, then held lawmen at bay for six hours before giving himself up to members of a Pueblo SWAT unit that had been called in.
In this case, Faus pleaded guilty to a class 3 felony charge of first degree burglary. This conviction could lead to a prison term of up to 10 years and five years parole.
“You are looking at 13 years with the two plea agreements, not counting parole,” Schiferl advised the defendant.
The judge warned Faus that the two sentences could be imposed consecutively, to be served one after the other, rather than simultaneously.
More details will be in next week's Bent County Democrat
Las Animas, Colo. —
