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OGDEN — A Mississippi prison inmate has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from an attack and sexual assault on a mall clerk in Ogden 15 years ago.
Deon J. Lucero entered guilty pleas last week to charges of aggravated sexual abuse and aggravated robbery, his attorney Michael Bouwhuis said Monday. As part of Lucero's plea agreement, Weber County prosecutors agreed to drop an aggravated kidnapping charge.
"From the moment he got here, he just said 'I want to take care of this, I'm responsible,'" Bouwhuis said. "He's acknowledged that he did a horrible thing."
Lucero, 39, faces a possible life sentence on each of the charges. Sentencing is set for Nov. 21.
Lucero, formerly of Ogden, was extradited from Mississippi to Utah in September. DNA testing conducted by the Utah State Crime Lab in October 2010 matched a DNA sample from Lucero to evidence collected after an assault on a Newgate Mall clerk on Aug. 26, 1996.
From the moment he got here, he just said 'I want to take care of this, I'm responsible.' He's acknowledged that he did a horrible thing.
–Michael Bouwhuis
Lucero's DNA profile was in a national criminal offender database. He had been serving a 10-year sentence in a Mississippi prison since 2007 following a conviction on two counts of sexual battery.
Lucero is accused of robbing an Afterthoughts store, where he pulled out a 6-inch knife and ordered the clerk to open the cash register. After taking $304.79 from the till, Lucero allegedly forced the clerk into a back room and sexually assaulted the woman.
Prosecutors say Lucero led the woman to a bathroom where her hands were bound with plastic zip ties to a railing. Lucero also threatened to kill the woman if she failed to stay in the bathroom for 20 minutes, according to court documents.
Authorities say that as Lucero left the store, he told customers the clerk was in the bathroom and would be right out. The woman later ran out of the store and hid in a mall information kiosk until police arrived.
