A Doña Ana County judge has effectively taken a Vado man off the streets for decades, handing down a stacked 33-year prison term in two separate violent cases that prosecutors and victims have been waiting years to see resolved.
The defendant, 33-year-old Javier Levario of Vado, received 24 years for a recent conviction of criminal sexual penetration tied to offenses from 2011, plus another nine years for a separate kidnapping and assault that prosecutors described as violent and prolonged. Judge Conrad F. Perea ordered the sentences to run one after the other, not at the same time, according to KTSM. Prosecutors said the nine-year term in the kidnapping case exceeded the State’s recommendation and stemmed from a guilty plea in a domestic-abuse case. Because both convictions are classified as serious violent offenses under New Mexico law, Levario will have to serve at least 85% of his time before he can even be considered for release.
In the kidnapping case, prosecutors told the court that Levario held his girlfriend at knifepoint, kept her confined in his truck for three days, and repeatedly beat her while threatening to kill her. He ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping, KVIA reports. That plea, combined with the victim’s detailed account of the ordeal, helped set the stage for the nine-year term that was stacked on top of the earlier child-sex sentence, pushing Levario’s total prison time far beyond what would typically result from a single case.
Delayed-Disclosure Child Sexual Penetration Conviction
Earlier this month, a jury convicted Levario of first-degree criminal sexual penetration in a delayed-disclosure case involving incidents prosecutors say occurred in 2011. Officials said the victims were family members who were about 6 and 11 years old at the time of the abuse. District Attorney Fernando R. Macias called the combined outcomes “a significant and just result,” and Chief Deputy District Attorney Spencer Willson publicly praised the victims for their “courage and strength,” according to KVIA. Levario remains in custody following the sentencing hearings.
