{"id":270819,"date":"2023-04-27T12:01:45","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T17:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=270819"},"modified":"2023-04-27T13:52:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T18:52:11","slug":"las-vegas-murderer-could-spend-up-to-25-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-murderer-could-spend-up-to-25-years-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Murderer Could Spend Up to 25 Years in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Las Vegas man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder charges will spend 10 to 25 years in prison for the gruesome death of a 24-year-old model.<\/p>\n

\"Christopher
Christopher Prestipino, left, and Esmeralda Gonzalez, right, pictured above. He was sentenced this week for her death. (Image: LVMPD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

District Judge Carli Kierny announced the sentence on Tuesday to defendant Christopher Prestipino<\/a>, 49, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping on March 13 under the Alford doctrine<\/a>, where he maintains his innocence but acknowledges prosecutors likely have sufficient evidence for a conviction.<\/p>\n

Craig Mueller, the Las Vegas-based criminal defense attorney representing Prestipino, told the Review-Journal<\/em> his client agreed to the plea deal because \u201cHe didn\u2019t want to risk a life sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n

My involvement was after the fact,\u201d Prestipino said Tuesday during the court proceeding. \u201cI don\u2019t believe this death was intentional, but like the medical examiner, I still don\u2019t know the exact cause of death. I do regret ever meeting the co-defendant.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prestipino must also pay $4,909 in restitution, according to the judge\u2019s sentence.<\/p>\n

“Throughout this process I haven\u2019t known much about her, and she sounds like a wonderful person,\u201d Judge Kierny told the victim\u2019s brother in court. \u201cI am so sorry that you lost her in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier Arrests<\/h2>\n

Prestipino and two other suspects were arrested in connection with the murder.<\/p>\n

One of the other suspects in the case, Lisa Mort, who was identified as Prestipino\u2019s one-time girlfriend, assisted Prestipino in the crime, police said. She was charged with harboring, concealing, and aiding a felony offender.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another woman, Cassandra Garret, Prestipino\u2019s roommate, was also charged.<\/p>\n

Mort pleaded guilty in 2020 to being an accessory to murder and was sentenced to two and five years in prison. Garret pleaded guilty in 2021 to voluntary manslaughter and will be sentenced next month.<\/p>\n

Murder Plot<\/h2>\n

Prestipino killed Esmeralda Gonzalez in May 2019 and, the following month, discarded her body in a 250-gallon water tank covered with concrete and wood, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Gonzalez’s body was left in the desert north of Las Vegas. Five months later, near Glendale, Nev., the body was discovered by police. Her hands were tied, and her head and neck were covered with white tape, People <\/em>reported. The body was covered by blankets. An autopsy failed to identify the cause of her death.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez was seen on surveillance video outside Prestipino\u2019s residence on May 31, 2019, wearing high heels and lingerie and appearing disoriented, according to the New York Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

When she entered his home, Prestipino gave her methamphetamine<\/a> (meth), according to Las Vegas TV station KTNV<\/em>. She started to act “bizarre\u201d and speak \u201cin the devil’s tongue,\u201d a police report revealed. Prestipino tied her to a chair. He then strangled her and apparently injected a pool-cleaning substance into her body.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Gonzalez was associated with the adult entertainment industry, the Review-Journal<\/em> reported. She had more than 300K followers on Instagram. Gonzalez grew up in Mexico and had attended UNLV, People<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez hoped to one day attend law school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Las Vegas man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder charges will spend 10 to 25 years in prison for the gruesome death of a 24-year-old model. District Judge Carli Kierny announced the sentence on Tuesday to defendant Christopher Prestipino, 49, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping on March 13 under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":270825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,81886],"tags":[13766,23,81928,82002],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas Model Murderer Could Spend Up to 25 Years in Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A man who plead guilty to kidnapping and murder charges is to spend anywhere from 10 to 25 years in prison. 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