A warrant remained outstanding Monday after one of two Los Angeles residents suspected in a series of multi-county mail thefts failed to appear in court for the second time in a week.
Mark Huguez, 48, made an initial court appearance on May 28 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, pleading not guilty to a felony count of obtaining personal identifying information with intent to defraud.
He failed to appear at a scheduled felony settlement conference last Tuesday, leading to the issuance of a $250,000 bench warrant, according to Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
On Wednesday, however, the defendant filed a request for a court date to be scheduled five days later, Hayden said. That hearing was set for Monday, but Huguez again failed to appear, and the warrant remained active.
Sixto Melendez III, 28, also appeared in court for the first time on May 28, when he pleaded guilty to the same charge facing Huguez. Melendez received a sentence of 24 months of probation and 120 days of custody, according to case records.
Members of the Palm Desert sheriff’s station assigned to the Rancho Mirage Special Enforcement Team stopped a vehicle at 2:10 p.m. May 23 that was allegedly used during mail carrier burglaries in Alhambra, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies searched the vehicle and allegedly found mail belonging to 16 people across multiple counties, in addition to stolen checks, stolen credit cards and burglary tools.
Both defendants were arrested and booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center.
Huguez, who has multiple prior felony convictions, is ineligible for probation, according to Riverside County records. Melendez had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.