Convicted sex offender sentenced

By DORIS COOK - Staff Writer
Star Beacon

October 05, 2008 01:50 am

— JEFFERSON — Convicted sex offender Louis Candela, 54, of Ashtabula, will spend the next eight years in prison after being sentenced Friday on four felony counts.
Common Pleas Judge Gary Yost sentenced Candela to eight years on three counts of attempted rape and five years on one count of gross sexual imposition. The total years will be served concurrently with Candela being in for at least eight years, the judge said.
“There is no denying the seriousness of this case. Each of the counts represents four victims,” Yost said adding Candela was not suitable for community control.
Candela, in jail stripe clothes, sat quietly. He expressed little emotion as his attorney, Public Defender Marie Lane told the judge that one victim was “mistakenly” included in the presentence report. Lane wanted Yost to designate her client as a sexually oriented offender not a sexual predator.
Yost replied he was aware of the mistake in the report. It was determined that the statute of limitations prevented using that older victim’s testimony given to investigators.
County assistant prosecutor, Margaret Draper, requested Yost make Candela’s prison sentence run concurrently. She also said that severity of Candela’s crimes require he be designated as a sexual predator under the Adam Walsh Act legislation, which is under appeal in the courts at the present time.
Candela had changed his “not guilty” plea March 24, then agreed to plead guilty to four of 20 original sex related offense charges against him.
Candela entered an Alford plea , which permits a defendant to maintain his innocence while agreeing to forego his right to trial. Draper and Lane agreed to a negotiated plea deal before the March 24 hearing. Yost convicted Candela’s on guilty pleas to the four felony charges.
Yost had delayed the sentencing since March for a forensic evaluation and pre-sentence report. Minutes before sentencing Candela, the judge allowed a victim’s father, Lester Johnson, to make a brief statement.
“Lou is a snake in the grass. He is a pedophile and has been for a long time. He deserves the maximum ... he is no good,” Johnson said in an emotionally choked voice.
Johnson also told the judge that Candela’s acts have scarred the lives of the minor victims and whole families. Candela refused to make a statement to his family members, who sat in the courtroom gallery.
Yost credited Candela with 435 days spent in Ashtabula County jail in rendering the eight year prison term. Candela was designated a sexual predator. Under such a designation, the defendant is required to report every 90 days to local law enforcement officials where he resides. If he violates any of the post-release restrictions Candela could end up facing added felony charges, Yost said.