Othello man sentenced for assaulting father

ROYAL CITY — An Othello man was sentenced for helping his brother tie up their father with jumper cables and assault him.

Ernesto Guadarrama, 25, Othello, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault. Grant County Superior Court Judge David Estudillo followed a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Kate Mathews and defense attorney Stephen Felice and sentenced Guardarrama to 364 days in jail, with 331 suspended for two years and credit for 19 days served. Fourteen days of the sentence were converted to 112 hours of community service.

Guadarrama's brother and co-defendant, Hector Guadarrama, 26, of Moses Lake, previously pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and harassment and was sentenced to 45 days in jail in connection with the incident. The brothers were initially charged with second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment and harassment, but the charges were lessened in plea agreements between attorneys.

The sentences stem from Hector Guadarrama's wife obtaining a temporary order for protection against her husband in August 2015. The order stipulated Hector Guadarrama was not permitted to be near his wife and their two children, who were staying with Guadarrama's father at a residence on Road D.4 Southeast, near Royal City, according to police records.

Hector and Ernesto showed up at their father's residence and Hector started yelling at his father and telling him he (his father) was going to help him get his daughters back. Ernesto Guadarrama retrieved a pair of automotive jumper cables and used them to tie up his father.

“I was told that his legs were bound with the cables which also were wrapped around his neck so he could not get away,” wrote a deputy. “I was told that Hector then started beating his father with a wooden fishing net and his fist. I was told that as Hector was beating his father, Ernesto was holding his father still/down.”

The victim was able to break free from the jumper cables and grabbed the fishing net from Hector Guadarrama, breaking it into pieces. Hector Guadarrama then proceeded to tell his father he was going to grab a knife and stab him if he didn't get his daughters back. He then told his father he would kill him, his wife and anyone else who helped get his daughters taken away from him. He threatened to kill them all if they showed up at a Sept. 8 court hearing, according to police records.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.