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FILLMORE -- Misguided loyalty to a friend accused of killing a Millard County sheriff's deputy earlier this year has cost a Fillmore man his freedom.
Fourth District Judge Donald J. Eyre sentenced Ruben Chavez-Reyes Friday to one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison for obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. The judge also sentenced him to zero-to-five-year terms for evidence tampering and burglary of a non-dwelling, both third-degree felonies. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently.
A jury last month found Chavez-Reyes, 37, guilty of those charges, while acquitting him of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and burglary of a dwelling.
Chavez-Reyes told the judge that no words in English or Spanish can express his remorse for what happened to Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox.
"To the family I am really, really sorry," he said. "I'm found guilty of something, I'm willing to pay."
Fox was gunned down Jan. 5 while making a traffic stop of a suspected burglar on U.S. 50 in Millard County. Roberto Miramontes Roman is charged with capital murder in the case. He reportedly told police he shot Fox with an AK-47 because he thought she pulled him over simply for being Mexican. A trial date has not been set.
During Chavez-Reyes' trial, prosecutors called him the wrong kind of loyal and said he tried to help his friend get away with murder. The defense described him as a good person who was reluctant to help Roman and who didn't find out until later that a police officer had been killed.
Chavez-Reyes told police that he spent the night before the shooting at his Fillmore apartment with Roman watching videos, smoking meth and handling Roman's AK-47 rifle. He told police that Roman called him the next day and convinced him to give him a ride because his car was stuck in a snow bank west of Nephi. Chavez-Reyes told police that it wasn't until they arrived at Roman's cousin's house in Salt Lake City that Roman told him that he'd "broke a cop," which he took to mean he had killed a police officer.
At one point, Chavez-Reyes destroyed his cell phone so police couldn't track their movements. The two men later tried to hire a driver to take them to Los Angeles but lacked the money. They paid to go as far as Beaver, where they ended up hiding in a shed in a mobile home park. A resident discovered them in the shed the next morning and called police. They were apprehended without incident.
E-mail: romboy@desnews.com
