Man sentenced to rider for motel stabbing
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POCATELLO — A man who attacked another man with a paring knife at a motel in American Falls has been sent on a rider.
Allen Zoriel Cruz, 24, was ordered to serve a rider with an underlying sentence of five to 15 years by District Judge Javier Gabiola during a sentencing hearing Monday, court records show.
A rider is where a judge sends a person to prison for up to a year to undergo a variety of treatment programs. When the inmate has completed the rider, the judge can then decide to send them back to prison or release them on probation.
As part of a plea agreement with the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office, Cruz pleaded guilty to a felony charge for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
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Cruz was arrested after American Falls police responded to a call reporting a stabbing at a motel on Pocatello Avenue on Sept. 17.
When officers arrived, they found a two men covered in blood and a third man locked inside a Jeep. Officers learned that the third man, Cruz, had stabbed and sliced one of the other men multiple times in the head and shoulder. According to police reports, the victim’s wounds required staples.
Officers later received surveillance footage that showed Cruz as the aggressor in a physical altercation that ended with Cruz stabbing the victim.
Should Cruz fail the rider program, he will be ordered to complete his prison term — for which he will receive a credit of 253 days time served. He has also been ordered to pay $3,095.50 in fees and fines.