PASCO — A Pasco man serving a life sentence for raping and molesting a girl in 2007 has been given the opportunity to withdraw his plea because of a mistake made at sentencing.
The Tri-City Herald reported that the state Court of Appeals has ruled that 50-year-old Jose Fidel Mandujano’s case be sent back to Franklin County Superior Court. He will be awarded a new court date unless he decides to change his plea.
Mandujano entered an Alford plea in September 2013 to first-degree rape of a child and first-degree child molestation. An Alford plea means Mandujano did not admit guilty, but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
Mandujano speaks Spanish and did not personally read the plea statement; instead it was read to him.
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