FAYETTEVILLE -- A man who was involved in a shooting incident at a strip club early last year pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court earlier this week.
Carlos Gomez-Aguilar, 25, of Springdale pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to aggravated assault, second-degree battery and first-degree criminal mischief. A charge of committing a terroristic act was dropped as part of a plea bargain.
The shooting happened Jan. 21, 2018, at the Silver Dollar Cabaret on College Avenue in Fayetteville.
Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay sentenced Gomez-Aguilar to a total of five years at the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Gomez-Aguilar was convicted in 2013 on a federal charge of illegally re-entering the country after having been deported. He was sentenced to five months time served and was presumably deported again.
In that case, court records say Gomez-Aguilar, a native of El Salvador, was first deported in 2011 after he had been detained at the Benton County Jail and identified as being in the county illegally.
Another man, Ramon Ilario Flores, 26, of Lowell, pleaded guilty in November in the shooting to being an accomplice to aggravated assault, accomplice to third-degree battery, accomplice to criminal mischief and possession of a firearm by a felon. A terroristic threatening charge was dropped as part of the plea bargain.
Flores was sentenced to 10 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with five years suspended.
A third man, Victor Manuel Martinez, 20, of Rogers, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault, battery, criminal mischief and committing a terroristic act. His next court appearance is set for March 1.
Martinez is being held at the Washington County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. There is a motion pending for bond reduction.
Security employees told the men they couldn't go into the club, according to a police report. The men went to an SUV, and Martinez got a rifle, according to the preliminary arrest report.
Martinez shot at least 20 rounds into a door, the building and a Chevrolet Corvette according to police.
One employee at the club suffered a minor injury in the incident, according to the report.
NW News on 02/22/2019