Two men who robbed a U.S. Postal Service delivery worker in the Coachella Valley were each bound for state prison Wednesday to serve two years behind bars after admitting the offense.
Luis Alberto Gonzalez, 32, of Victorville, and Jose Estevan Chavarria Jr., 28, of Los Angeles, both pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree robbery under separate plea agreements with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. No charges were dismissed under the agreements.
During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini accepted the admissions and imposed the stipulated sentences.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Cryder, shortly before 11 a.m. March 24, the pair confronted a postal carrier in the area of Bertain and Storke drives in Palm Desert.
Cryder said one of the defendants brandished what appeared to be a handgun and forced the victim, whose name was not released, to hand over money and other belongings. It was unclear whether any packages or envelopes were taken.
The victim complied, and the two men fled, eluding patrol deputies who arrived minutes later in response to the mail carrier’s 911 call, according to the sergeant.
“During the ensuing investigation, it was determined that several additional robberies and attempted robberies of U.S. Postal Service carriers had occurred in … several cities in Los Angeles County,” he said.
Working with the USPS’ Inspection Service and the District Attorney’s Office, investigators turned up leads pointing to Chavarria and Gonzalez as the culprits, Cryder said.
He said the men were located by Burbank Police Department officers on North Third Street in that San Fernando Valley city and taken into custody without incident on March 28.
Neither defendant had documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.