Two people involved in a kidnap attempt last fall in Sierra Vista connected to a missing car have pleaded guilty after surveillance video supported the victim’s report of being forced out of a local business and into a vehicle.
Monty G. Montoya, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony imprisonment stemming from his actions on Oct. 1, 2020 when he made William Cain get into a vehicle owned by Montoya’s father. He also admitted violating the conditions of his probation for a 2019 weapons misconduct conviction by committing a new crime.
Montoya’s co-defendant, Jamie Donalson, pleaded guilty last month to unlawful imprisonment for her role in restraining Cain, who she believed was involved in hiding a missing car. She will be sentenced Feb. 22 by Judge Timothy Dickerson of the Cochise County Superior Court to a term of probation per a negotiated plea deal with the Cochise County Attorney’s Office.
According to court records, Montoya allowed a friend, Kristina Shelley, to use a car “for a day or two” in September but the car was not returned. Montoya and Donalson later discovered Shelley allowed her own boyfriend -Cain- to drive the car. Cain and Montoya were acquainted and were not on friendly terms.
On Oct. 1, Donalson called Montoya when she spotted Shelley and Cain outside a Sierra Vista business. As Shelley was leaving the area, Montoya drove up and asked where the car was.
“Montoya told her to get in his car and take him to it,” Det. Joshua Nicola noted in a report. “Shelley said she refused because she was scared what Montoya would do to her or Cain.”
Nicola’s report notes Shelley said she ran across the street and hid, but could see Cain, Donalson, and Montoya together. A short time later the three disappeared, Shelley said.
Cain told investigators that after being forced at gunpoint into Montoya’s vehicle they drove to a gas station. When he went inside the station Donalson and Montoya followed and forced Cain outside and back into Montoya’s vehicle, which is supported by surveillance video.
“Cain then goes back in the store and the pair force him out again,” Nicola wrote, adding that the video shows Montoya yelling at Cain and approaching him “in a way that appears he is about to assault him.”
What the video did not capture, according to the detective, was whether Montoya threatened Cain with a gun, which the victim claims.
At that point Cain gets in the car again but jumps out as Montoya pulls away from the gas station. Cain runs back into the gas station as Montoya and Donalson then leave the area.
Montoya was taken into custody at his father’s automotive business and the missing car was later recovered, according to Nicola. Jail records show Montoya has been in the Cochise County jail since his arrest in October but was released on Tuesday after signing a plea deal which calls for a 1.5-year prison term.
A defendant facing a mandatory prison sentence following a guilty plea would normally remain in custody through sentencing, but Dickerson granted a request from defense attorney Greg Grynkewich to give Montoya time to get his personal affairs in order.
However, if Montoya blows off the sentencing hearing then he would be charged with a new felony for failing to appear and would lose the sentencing stipulations included in his plea deal. The result, Dickerson warned Montoya, would likely be a sentence of several years in prison, rather than just 1.5 years.
Montoya’s 2019 weapons misconduct conviction involved his prohibited possession of a firearm as a convicted felon whose rights had not been restored. He previously served time in state prison for a 2019 incident involving felony flight from law enforcement and a 2011 weapons misconduct conviction.
