Nearly nine months has passed since a Chicago-area man accepted a plea and sentence agreement after admitting killing a Columbus man.
But it appears that Eliel Avelar, 32, still won’t be sentenced for another five months.
On Oct. 29, 2020, Avelar pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of 37-year-old Leobardo Rodriguez Flores, who was shot and killed on Feb. 26, 2020, in the parking lot of his employer, Tool Dynamics, located on South Marr Road.
The plea agreement in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 stipulated that Avelar would receive a 17½ year prison sentence, if he agreed to a key provision. He must truthfully testify against his three co-defendants: Abraham Jimenez Cesareo, Eladia Jacobo Ortiz and Esam Mohammed Abujoudeh, before Judge James Worton considers accepting the plea agreement.
If Avelar does not testify or commits perjury, the judge can reject the plea agreement and order Avelar to be tried on all eight felony charges he was charged with. If found guilty of all charges, he would likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Cesareo, 36, allegedly hired Avelar to come to Columbus and physically harm Flores because he was jealous the victim was dating his ex-girlfriend, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Besides murder, other formal charges against Avelar include armed robbery as a Level 3 felony; auto theft as a Level 6 felony; three separate counts of obstruction of justice as Level 6 felonies; intimidation as a Level 6 felony and unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien — a Level 4 felony.
The reason why Avelar’s sentencing keeps getting postponed is that the cases of all three of his co-defendants also keep getting delayed, so he hasn’t testified to anything regarding their participation, according to online court records.
“Avelar entered into a plea agreement that has not yet been accepted by the court pursuant to which he is required to testify truthfully at the trials of all three co-defendants, including Abraham Jimenez Cesareo, the man who allegedly hired him,” Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash said Tuesday.
After a number of delays, the latest court dates scheduled for Cesareo, charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder and battery, include a change of plea hearing for Oct. 11 at 9:30 a.m. He is also tentatively scheduled to stand trial on Nov. 9 at 8:30 a.m. before Worton.
Ortiz, 35, is charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder. He is scheduled for a change of plea hearing before Worton at 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 20, while her trial date is currently set for Oct. 19 at 8:30 a.m.
The third and final defendant is Esam Mohammad Abujoudeh, 24, of Oak Forest, Illinois. He’s charged with battery resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 5 felony and obstruction of justice as a Level 6 felony. His charge of plea hearing before Worton is currently set for 10:45 a.m. on Aug. 30, with a jury trial to be held Oct. 5 at 8:30 a.m.
The case began in Dec., 2019, when Cesareo’s ex-girlfriend told police she had been battered, strangled, intimidated and confined by her former boyfriend.
But she gave officers multiple phone recordings where Cesareo could be heard offering a man $2,000 to break Flores’ bones, according to a probable cause affidavit. At that time, the man refused Cesareo’s offer, the affidavit stated.
But Ortiz said she introduced Cesareo to Avelar two months later, on Feb. 10. After receiving money from Cesareo, Alevar agreed to hurt Flores, the probable cause affidavit states.
Avelar approached the victim with a .45 caliber handgun as he was getting out of his car to start work, and asked Flores if he knew two children that Avelar claims to have fathered. Avelar said that — after hearing Flores respond with “sorry, sorry, sorry” — he shot the victim as he bent down, the affidavit states.
Threatening phone and text messages from Avelar, who was demanding more money, led to the arrests. During her interview, Ortiz identified Avelar as the person who was hired to hurt Flores, and Cesareo also identified Avelar as the man that he paid $2,000, the affidavit states.
