The Turlock man accused of keeping his former girlfriend locked in a dog crate for hours at a time has been convicted on all the charges brought against him, according to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.
Frank Deodulo Guerra IV, 22, entered a no contest plea Wednesday afternoon during a hearing at Stanislaus County Superior Court. After accepting the no contest plea Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Scott Steffen found Guerra guilty of felony kidnapping, battery causing serious bodily injury, and battery on a spouse or cohabitant.
The district attorney’s office can recommend Guerra be sentenced to eight years for the kidnapping and an additional year each for the battery charges, for a total of 10 years. The judge will determine Guerra’s sentencing at a hearing set for May 24.
Whatever sentence is given to Guerra, he will have to serve at least 85 percent of it and he will be accumulating two strikes under California’s Three Strikes law. If Guerra commits another qualifying felony in the future after being released from prison, he could be sentenced up to 25 years to life in state prison.
The charges against Guerra come from allegations made by his former girlfriend that he physically abused her and tortured her by locking her in a dog crate hours at a time while he went to work. She also told investigators she was forced to urinate in a dog bowl and that Guerra would smear dog feces on her. The dog crate the victim was kept in was less than three feet high.
The victim also told investigators Guerra threatened to post nude photos of her on social media and would menace her by sending her photos of him with a gun.
According to the court documents the alleged abuse took place between Aug. 1, 2015 and Jan. 4, when the victim was able to get away.
After her escape the victim received a voicemail from Guerra in which he implicated himself in the abuse. The voicemail was later given to investigators as evidence.
Guerra was taken into custody Feb. 26 by the Turlock Police Department. He has been held at the Stanislaus County Jail since his arrest.
