A year in jail is the sentence for a onetime downtown Minneapolis hotel employee who sneaked into a guest's room and sexually assaulted her as she slept.
Pedro Ortiz Morales, 40, of Minneapolis, was sentenced last week by Hennepin County District Court to a year in jail and given credit for 11 days served since his arrest on a charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
As part of the plea agreement, Judge Daniel Mabley stayed a prison term of nearly five years, placed Morales on 10 years' probation, ordered him to undergo sex offender treatment and register with the state as a predatory offender.
Morales had faced up to 15 years in prison for the attack on June 26, 2015, at the Marriott Residence Inn on S. 8th Street between Nicollet Mall and LaSalle Avenue.
The sentencing document noted that the defense and prosecution agreed to the terms and that Morales "takes responsibility" for what he did.
The 23-year-old victim was "crying and struggling to talk" when she met with police that morning and told them that she awoke to Morales straddling her, the criminal complaint against Morales read. She said Morales was sexually assaulting her with his hand and trying to have intercourse with her.
