- Joseph Ray Guerrero received a sentence of five years to life in prison for aggravated robbery.
- Guerrero pleaded guilty to a violent home robbery, which happened on Oct. 18, 2021. He was arrested following a police chase.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man will spend at least five years and up to life in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery four and a half years after the violent home invasion.
Joseph Ray Guerrero, one of the Salt Lake Metro Gang Unit's top 10 most wanted suspects, was arrested following a police chase in October 2021.
Salt Lake police reported that Guerrero, 39, and a second person forced their way into a home near 300 North and 1800 West on Oct. 18, 2021. A woman who was home alone tried to run out the back door, but they pulled her back into the home and assaulted her, according to court documents.
Guerrero "held a handgun to the victim's head and demanded to know where the money was in her house," while his accomplice searched the home, police say.
After the two left, the woman ran to a neighbor's house to call 911 for help, as her phone had been stolen. Police tracked her phone to an area where they found a car matching the suspects' vehicle description. The unoccupied car was registered to Guerrero, who at the time was a parole fugitive.
Police then tracked Guerrero's phone after getting a search warrant. Following a chase with "numerous agencies and a (Department of Public Safety) helicopter," he and his girlfriend were found in the parking garage at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.
Guerrero pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony. In exchange, charges of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault were dismissed as part of a plea deal. Third District Judge Chelsea Koch sentenced him to a term of five years to life in prison.
His girlfriend, Eloria Clarissa Avila, was also arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and failure to stop at the command of police, but her charges were later dismissed at the request of prosecutors.
