Second defendant in Willits assault case accepts plea deal
Daniel Wettstein, 35, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault by strangulation, a class 4 felony, for his role in the alleged Basalt kidnapping case last summer that led to an Eagle County SWAT team’s involvement.
Wettstein’s co-defendent, 24-year-old Mustafa Muhammad — who was sentenced to seven years in the Colorado Department of Corrections — pleaded guilty to the same second-degree assault charge, but as a crime of violence, which serves as a sentence enhancer. Wettstein’s plea agreement will mean a permanent felony conviction, but not an aggravated one — meaning he will be eligible for probation or community corrections.
As part of the plea agreement, the prosecution agreed not to ask for more than six years in the Department of Corrections. This will be the first felony conviction for Wettstein; Muhammad is currently serving a prison sentence with a three-felony record — a distinction both the prosecution and defense made clear to Eagle County District Judge Paul Dunkelman during a hearing last week when presenting the then-not-quite-finalized deal and the reasons for the different offers to the co-defendants.
“The first defendant who pled, he did have a history,” Deputy District Attorney Johnny Lombardi said during the May 5 hearing. “He was the initial aggressor in that, and he was kind of the facilitator of the narcotics transactions.”
The paperwork was finalized and the plea agreement, which also includes restitution, accepted Wednesday morning. The victim, who maintains that the billing department of the hospital continues to contact him about payments owed for the facial reconstructive surgery he received in the aftermath of the August night, plans to speak at the June 30 sentencing hearing.
GarCo deputies find deceased male, apparently a homicide victim, along Highway 6
On Tuesday at approximately 8:21 p.m., Garfield County Sheriff’s deputies — while responding to a call that a person had been injured along Highway 6 just west of Parachute — found a deceased male and determined that the subject appeared to be a victim of a homicide.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigations investigators with the District Attorney’s Office and the Garfield County Coroner were notified and arrived on scene to assist with the investigation, according to a GCSO press release.
The Colorado Department of Transportation, or CDOT, assisted in the closure of the highway in the area for the safety of all involved during the preliminary investigation. Traffic on U.S. 6 was diverted to Interstate 70 until the highway was reopened shortly after 1:00 a.m. Wednesday.
“The county coroner may provide additional information once an autopsy has been completed and the next of kin have been notified,” the press release noted, adding that “the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office would also like to thank the Parachute Police Department and Grand Valley Fire for their assistance in this matter.”
This is an active investigation of the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
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May 13, 2021 at 04:00PM
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