A former co-owner of a Lower East Side restaurant in Milwaukee will spend 20 years in prison after a jury convicted him in September of sexually assaulting a woman and a girl. Kevin Lopez continues to maintain his innocence even as the sentence moves forward.
According to FOX6 News Milwaukee, which had reporter Bill Miston cover the story, the sentence closes out a case that stretched back more than a year through the Milwaukee County court system. The case drew early attention not just for the nature of the allegations but for the unusual circumstances surrounding Lopez's arrest.
Court proceedings earlier in the case described Lopez, 36, as facing two felony charges tied to an incident that allegedly occurred after a small gathering at an east side restaurant. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Lopez was accused of sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl, and the paper identified him at the time as a co-owner of the restaurant where the gathering took place.
Ownership of the Restaurant Disputed
Not every outlet described Lopez's role at the restaurant the same way. CBS 58 reported that Judy's Cantina posted on Facebook saying Lopez no longer worked there and was never an owner, directly conflicting with the Journal Sentinel's earlier characterization. The discrepancy over his exact relationship to the business was never resolved in the available reporting.
Lopez's path through the justice system was also complicated by his arrest by federal immigration agents. The Journal Sentinel reported that on May 28, a Milwaukee County judge ordered him held in local custody without bail so that he could be tried on the sexual assault charges rather than face immediate federal proceedings.
Maximum Exposure Before Trial
Before the case went to trial, the stakes for Lopez were considerably higher than the sentence ultimately handed down. The same Journal Sentinel report noted that if convicted of the two felonies, Lopez faced a maximum possible sentence of 65 years in prison followed by 35 years of extended supervision.
Despite the jury's September verdict, Lopez continues to maintain his innocence, according to the FOX6 report. The station's brief account does not elaborate further on the basis for his position, and no additional court records were available to clarify the terms of his sentence.
