Plea deal possible in heist at armory

Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.

The Las Vegas men charged with stealing firearms and ammunition from a local armory are expected to plead guilty in an agreement that would require they spend at least two years in prison.

Jonathan Avendano, 21, and Joshua Moyers, 19, face 29 felony counts each, including burglary, possession of stolen property and firearms charges in the Thanksgiving weekend robbery of a Parole and Probation building on East Bonanza Road.

Though the charges were probationable, the two men could have received a one to 10-year prison sentence for each count.

In a hearing Tuesday before Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo, the men agreed to plead guilty to one count of burglary while being in possession of a firearm and one count of grand larceny, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Victoria Villegas.

The grand larceny charge includes all the firearms the men allegedly stole, she said.

Prosecutors also amended the initial charge to include one count of burglary in the break-in of a local Department of Motor Vehicles office.

Police say the men stole more than $1,000 in cash and some lost-and-found property from the DMV office in an unrelated incident.

Stipulated in the plea agreement would be a mandatory two to five-year prison sentence, Villegas said. The men would waive their preliminary hearing.

Avendano and Moyers are expected to make their guilty plea in a hearing Jan. 21.

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