COLUMBUS, Ind. — A plea agreement made nearly three years ago in what investigators describe as a murder-for-hire case has been thrown out of court.
In accepting the original agreement, Eliel Avelar, 34, who resides in a suburb of Chicago, was essentially admitting he shot and killed 37-year-old Leobardo Rodriguez Flores of Columbus on Feb. 26, 2020. The shooting took place at night in the parking lot of the victim’s employer, Tool Dynamics, on South Marr Road.
According to the plea bargain offered by the office of then-county prosecutor Bill Nash, Avelar would receive a 17 ½ year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter as a Level 2 felony. However, the offer was contingent upon Avelar agreeing to testify truthfully against three alleged accomplices: Abraham Jimenez Cesareo, Eladia Jacobo Ortiz and Esam Mohammed Abujoudeh.
But after Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton threw out the plea agreement Monday, Avelar is again facing a dozen charges: murder; voluntary manslaughter as a Level 2 felony; two counts of criminal mischief both as Class B misdemeanors; armed robbery as a Level 3 felony; auto theft as a Level 6 felony; obstruction of justice as a Level 6 felony; two counts of aiding, inducing or causing obstruction of justice as Level 6 felonies; intimidation as a Level 6 felony; unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien as a Level 6 felony; and criminal mischief as a Class B misdemeanor.
If found guilty of all 12 charges, Avelar could receive up to 123 years in prison, as well as fines as high as $64,000.
New court dates for Avelar include a change of plea hearing at 9 a.m. on Sept. 18; a final pretrial conference at 11 a.m. on Oct. 2; and a trial tentatively scheduled to get underway at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 24.
For the complete story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
