CEDAR CITY — A Las Vegas man who pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of gallons of fuel from gas stations in Cedar City has been sentenced to 40 months of probation and $3,500 in restitution, plus interest.
Yoel Otero Camejo, 50, was sentenced in 5th District Court on March 21 by Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen. Camejo was also ordered to serve 150 days in Iron County Jail, with credit given for time served since his arrest in January.
As previously reported, Camejo was arrested by Cedar City Police on Jan. 9 following a traffic stop on Interstate 15. According to the probable cause statement filed in support of his arrest, Camejo and another man had been observed filling up two large SUV vehicles and their supplementary tanks with fuel at a gas station on Main Street.
Camejo, along with his accomplice, who wasn’t apprehended, had allegedly used multiple financial cards fraudulently, in addition to rigging the pump so that it dispensed free gasoline.
During the March 21 hearing, Camejo, through his defense attorney Robert Burns, entered guilty pleas to three counts, namely unlawful use of a financial transaction card, a third-degree felony, and two counts of theft of motor vehicle fuel, one of which was a third-degree felony and the other a class A misdemeanor.
In exchange for Camejo’s guilty pleas, six similar charges were dismissed. Camejo had no prior criminal history in either Utah or Nevada, it was noted during the hearing.
Judge Allen said the court recognized the absence of criminal history, along with Camejo’s acceptance of responsibility, she still considered his crimes to be “exceptionally serious.”
“The court will not tolerate the victimization of members of this community,” Allen said in court to a Spanish interpreter. “You will be directly accountable to the sentence of this court, and if there is any violation of the sentence or additional crimes, the court will bring you back and you will face additional very serious sanctions.”
According to the sentencing order, once Camejo finishes serving his jail term in June, he’ll be released on privately supervised probation and begin paying restitution at the rate of $100 per month for 40 months.
The total restitution amount cited was $3,470.73, although the court left the amount open for a statutory period of time, to allow for any additional claims. Camejo was also ordered to pay a $159 court security fee and enroll in an approved theft course within 30 days of his release from jail.
In an unrelated pending case, a separate Las Vegas man is facing third-degree felony theft charges following his arrest in Cedar City in December, after he and an accomplice allegedly stole thousands of gallons of diesel fuel during three separate theft incidents in Kane County in November and December.
Alexander Padilla Rodriguez, 39, who is also listed on court documents as Alex Rodriguez Padilla, has a preliminary hearing scheduled on April 13 in Kanab before 6th District Judge Mandy Larsen.
This report is based on preliminary statements from law enforcement officials and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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