District Judge Jacqueline Bluth said she faced a dilemma in sentencing Kelsea Wray Glass, who played a part in the murder of a man whose body was found decapitated.
Her role in a Christmas Day 2016 killing was “not even in the same ballpark” as that of another defendant in the case whom Bluth sentenced to life without parole in May, the judge said Tuesday.
Bluth said her “heart breaks” for the family of Ulyses Cesar Molina, whose partial remains were found in a vacant lot in 2016 and whose head was not located, but she decided that Glass had changed and that no good would come of incarcerating her.
“When I think about what is justice, the only thing that we would get out of sending Kelsea Glass to prison is pure retribution,” the judge said. “And sometimes that is warranted, but when I think of the fact that for almost 10 years now, she has been clean, she has completely turned her life around, she has two children that are dependent on her, she goes to church, she’s active in her church, she’s active in her children’s life, she’s done all the therapy work, continues to go to therapy, I feel like by sending her to prison, that completely undoes every single thing she’s worked to do in the last 10 years.”
Instead, Bluth on Tuesday sentenced Glass to probation with an underlying suspended sentence of six to 15 years.
“If you do mess up, I will not bat an eyelash in sending you to prison,” the judge said.
Co-defendant sentenced to 10 to 25 years
Glass pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping, accessory to commit murder and false imprisonment with a deadly weapon, according to the judge.
On Tuesday, Bluth also sentenced co-defendant George Malaperdas, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, to 10 to 25 years in prison, a sentence she said prosecutors had recommended.
According to prosecutors, Anthony Newton, the defendant already sentenced to life without parole, stood on Molina’s neck until he died, then spent days dismembering the victim and distributing his remains throughout the Las Vegas Valley. A hand, for instance, ended up in a Henderson woman’s mailbox.
Molina was the ex-lover of Newton’s wife.
Malaperdas was the brother-in-law of Newton.
According to a sentencing memorandum defense attorney Ivette Maningo filed, it was Glass who messaged her friend Molina, telling him to come to a room on Boulder Highway, but not intending for him to be killed.
She watched as Newton stepped on Molina’s throat until he died and did not intervene or call police.
Bluth said that there is debate about Glass’ role: Some involved in the case think she lured the victim to the crime scene and Glass has said she did not know what would happen after she was instructed to have him come.
“Kelsea feared Newton and what he may do to her if she complained or alerted authorities, did not want to go back to prison, and was also high on meth, which further clouded her judgment,” wrote her lawyer.
‘He was a great son, he was a great dad’
Prosecutors spoke with Bluth at the bench, but did not make arguments regarding the sentencing of Malaperdas and Glass that spectators in the courtroom could hear.
There were no speakers from the victim’s family Tuesday, but at a prior hearing, Molina’s sister, Celina Gonzalez, said: “My brother wasn’t perfect, but to me, he was a great brother. He was a great son, he was a great dad. He didn’t deserve anything that this man and his friends did to him.”
Malaperdas read an apology note.
“I didn’t want this to happen,” he said. “I wish I would have done a million things differently. I wish I would have been braver. I wish I could go bring him back, go back in time, stop this happening.”
He added: “The truth is, I would’ve never been part of this if it wasn’t for my drug addiction and having my life threatened at gunpoint.”
He said he would never use drugs again.
According to a filing from Malaperdas’ lawyer, Newton pulled a gun on Malaperdas, ordered him to tie up Molina, killed Molina and then forced Malaperdas to help him dismember Molina.
Malaperdas’ attorney Kristina Wildeveld said her client’s addiction was severe, but that he has transformed over the course of the case. She urged Bluth to sentence him to 10 to 25 years in prison instead of a life sentence.
“He has learned his lesson,” she said, and understands the gravity of the crime.
Glass also apologized and told the judge that she was a different person than she was at the time of the killing.
‘I think your life’s on the right track’
Maningo, Glass’ lawyer, said Glass does not make excuses for her role. Her struggles in life have been tied to her drug addiction, the attorney said.
The lawyer said Glass fell into drugs after high school, became estranged from her family and was sent to prison, where she continued to use drugs.
After being released, Glass quickly returned to Boulder Highway, spending time in the environment that led to her first prison sentence, Maningo said.
When the murder took place on Christmas Day, Glass was so high she was unaware that it was the holiday, the lawyer said.
But in the last 10 years that Glass has been out of custody, Maningo said, the defendant has had no setbacks, not even a traffic ticket.
“My fear is that if she gets put in prison, it all gets derailed,” Maningo said. “And I realize it’s not about her and her kids, I know this, but it’s not good for anybody.”
Bluth told Glass she still had “trepidation” about giving her probation and had wondered sometimes, during the case, if Glass truly understood the loss the victim’s family had experienced.
“I actually don’t think I’ll ever see you again,” she said. “I think your life’s on the right track and you won’t go backwards. But I need, I really need you to understand the gravity of what happened to Cesar.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
