Borst pleads no contest

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Convicted sex offender Barry Borst pleaded no contest on Friday morning to multiple counts of criminal sexual penetration in connection with his last two pending cases.

The plea most likely marks the end of the string of Borst cases that were pending in district court. On the day a McKinley County jury was slated to determine his fate in connection with allegations that he assaulted a local woman inside his trailer, Borst entered into a plea agreement with Deputy District Attorney Alfred Walker.

Borst agreed to plead no contest to a second-degree felony count of criminal sexual penetration regarding this week's trial and to a third-degree felony count of criminal sexual penetration for the unresolved case. Both cases involve the same alleged victim.

Pursuant to the agreement, Borst will be sentenced to 14 additional years in prison. However, the term will be suspended except for the last six years.

In a third case, a San Juan County jury convicted Borst of similar charges earlier this year. Foutz sentenced Borst to six and a half years in prison for that offense.

Between the three cases, Borst will be sentenced to 12 and a half years in the state penitentiary and will have to serve 85 percent of the term.

However, Walker decided not to ask Foutz to classify Borst as a habitual offender for the last six-year term, which would have added years to his sentence. But if Borst gets into any trouble in prison, Walker said he would ask for the classification.

"I would say I am satisfied," Walker said of the plea agreement.

Walker said he and Louis DePauli, Borst's public defender, have been in negotiations about a plea agreement since the trial started on Monday. Each attorney had a sentence in mind; however, neither could agree on a term until Friday when they came to a compromise.

Walker said he was pleased because if Borst had been acquitted, he would have faced no time. But Borst would have been eligible for up to 10 years for a single CSP conviction.

DePauli said he was confident this week's case would result in an acquittal; however, he was concerned about the number of years Borst was facing in subsequent cases.

"It's a reasonable agreement under the circumstances," DePauli said. " ... The state simply didn't meet its burden of proof for this case."

After the attorneys submitted the plea agreement to the court, Foutz thanked the jurors for their service and released them from duty. He also thanked the attorneys for their professionalism throughout the trial. Borst will officially be sentenced at a future date. He has been in custody at the local jail for almost two years. He will receive credit for time served.