Eliel Avelar
After waiting in a jail cell for nearly four years, a self-confessed killer-for-hire pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of murder in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
Eliel Avelar, 34, who resided in the Chicago suburb of Midlothian, Illinois before his arrest, accepted a plea bargain Wednesday for the Feb. 26, 2020 killing of 37-year-old Leobardo Rodriguez Flores of Columbus. The shooting took place at night in the parking lot of the victim’s employer, Tool Dynamics, on South Marr Road.
Under Wednesday’s agreement that was accepted by Judge James Worton, Avelar will receive an executed sentence of no more than 55 years in prison. In Indiana, 55 years is considered the presumptive murder sentence when aggregators and mitigators appear balanced to a judge.
In exchange for Wednesday’s plea, Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay agreed to drop 11 other charges that include armed robbery, auto theft, obstruction of justice and voluntary manslaughter. Avelar, who told the court Wednesday he is either a drug addict or alcoholic, will be sentenced at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
Avelar was advised that federal officials may request his deportation back to his home country. In talking with a government official in 2020, Avelar said he was born and raised in Mexico, but has lived in the U.S. since 2004. In similar cases, immigration officials wait until just before a sentence has been completed before beginning deportation proceedings.
Former prosecutor Bill Nash had offered a plea bargain to Avelar three years ago to serve 17 1/2 years. Nash’s offer included a caveat that Avelar must testify truthfully about his three co-defendants in order to receive the lesser sentence.
But not long after succeeding Nash, Holden-Kay asked Worton if he could indicated whether he was going to accept Nash’s plea bargain. At that time, the new prosecutor expressed confidence she could get convictions without Avelar’s testimony.
On Aug. 7, Worton agreed to throw out the three-year-old plea bargain, which left Avelar facing a dozen charges that include murder. Had he been found guilty of all 12 charges, Avelar could have received up to 123 years in prison, as well as fines as high as $64,000.
Earlier this month, the Columbus man who hired Avelar to physically harm or kill Flores was sentenced by Worton. Abraham Jimenez Cesareo, 38, was ordered to serve 40 years under a plea agreement accepted by the judge.
Investigators believe Cesareo’s motive was jealousy because Flores was dating the defendant’s former girlfriend, who broke up with Cesareo several months before the victim was killed.
Co-defendant Eladia Jacobo Ortiz, who allegedly arranged the meeting between Cesareo and Avelar, is scheduled for a change of plea hearing at 9:15 a.m. on Oct. 16, with a jury trial tentatively set for 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 14. The 37-year-old Columbus resident is charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder, as well as aggravated battery as a Level 3 felony.
The final defendant is Esam Mohammed Abujoudeh, who is accused of driving the suspects the night of the killing. He is facing charges of battery resulting in serious bodily injury as a Level 5 felony and obstruction of justice as a Level 6 felony. The 26-year-old Oak Forest, Illinois resident, who is currently free on bond, is scheduled for a change of plea hearing at 10 a.m. on Nov, 13, and a trial tentatively scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 12.
