DA is pleased with outcomes in three high-profile cases
By Terry Murry on Monday, February 1st, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – Three high-profile court cases in Umatilla County were concluded late last week. Jose Fernandez, who was accused of sexually assaulting his young granddaughter was sentenced to 200 years and 10 months in prison. U. S. Attorney Jaclyn Jenkins stayed in her role as chief deputy district attorney for the county to see this case through to closure.
That closure came earlier than anticipated when Fernandez decided to plead guilty right before his granddaughter was due to take the stand
District Attorney Dan Primus says there were also settlements in the case against Umatilla County Commissioners candidate Jonathan Lopez who wrote a racist letter to himself, and in a case that was sent back to be retried due to a non-unanimous jury verdict that resulted in an even longer sentence. Krystian Allen will serve a longer sentence than he was given originally.
“I’m absolutely pleased,” Primus said of the outcomes on the three cases. “All really good outcomes for our office. All really good outcomes for the community. The ultimate goal for our office is to hold offenders accountable and in doing so, hopefully creating a safer and more livable community for us, and I believe that’s what we’ve done here with these matters.
Here are the summations of all three cases from the district attorney’s office.
On January 26 and January 27, 2021, Jose Olivarez Fernandez was tried on multiple sex
offenses. Just prior to the 10-year old victim taking the stand to testify, Mr. Fernandez elected to plead guilty to all 19 counts of Unlawful Sexual Penetration, Sodomy I, Sex Abuse I, Using a Child in display of Sexually Explicit Conduct, Encouraging Child Sex Abuse in First Degree,
and Incest. Sentencing was carried out on January 29, 2021, at which time the Circuit Court Judge Hill sentenced the defendant to 200 years and 10 months in the Department of Corrections.
The defendant is the biological grandfather of the victim. The defendant sexually abused the victim from the time she was six years old until she was nine, when the abuse was reported. The abuse took place in multiple jurisdictions, the most recent being the defendant’s home in Hermiston.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jaclyn Jenkins prosecuted the case against the defendant. The case was investigated by the Umatilla County Sheriff s Office with the assistance of the Guardian Care Center, a non-profit organization designed to minimize trauma to child abuse victims.
On January 29, 2021, Jonathan Elisha Lopez (30) entered a guilty plea to one count of lnitiating a False Report. Circuit Court Judge Christopher Brauer sentenced Lopez to probation for
eighteen months, two days of jail, and a fine. Part of the conditions of probation imposed include submission of an acceptable apology letter to the community and completion of a racial bias program.
On June 23, 2020 Lopez contacted the Hermiston Police Department and reported he found a letter inside of the mailbox at his residence. Lopez stated the letter contained derogatory racial terms and veiled threats. This was of particular concern because at the time Lopez was a recent candidate for a Umatilla County Board of Commissioners seat. A copy of this letter was given to police. An investigation into Lopez’s background raised concerns about the veracity of the reported letter. After being questioned by police, Lopez eventually admitted he wrote the letter himself.
On January 14, 2021, Krystian Thomas Allen (29) was sentenced to 70 months in prison for stabbing Athena, Oregon resident George Martin in the back on May 16, 2019. Allen had previously been convicted on January 16, 2020, and sentenced to 50 months in prison with eligibility for additional earned reductions and early release. However, because that jury verdict was 10-2, Allen was granted a new trial when he successfully appealed following the Unites States Supreme Court’s decision finding non-unanimous verdicts unconstitutional.
After the second jury unanimously found Allen guilty of Assault in the Second Degree, Circuit Court Judge Daniel Hill found that he was not bound by the previous sentencing court’s findings and imposed the voter-mandated 70-month Ballot Measure 11 sentence without eligibility for early release or any reductions in his sentence.
