By james art A suspect accused of participating in a robbery with five others at a Palm Desert business last year pleaded guilty to multiple charges Friday.
Mason Barron, 22, a Southern California resident whose city of residence was not listed, pleaded guilty to four felony counts of robbery, two felony counts of burglary and one count each of organized retail theft with intent to sell and grand larceny. over $950, according to case records.
Amy McKenzie of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office told City News Service that the defendant was sentenced to a total of 17 years and 4 months in prison.
Co-defendants Destiny Yunique Baca, 19, of San Bernardino, and Los Angeles resident Annalia Paradise Miller, who is in her mid-20s, pleaded guilty in January at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one count of robbery and had one felony count each of organized retail theft with intent to sell and grand theft over $950 dismissed, according to court records.
Each was immediately sentenced to two years in state prison, according to Riverside County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Brooke Beer.
Also suspected in the robbery were Los Angeles residents Julian Hermosillo and Raymond Garcia, and Byron Lee of Compton. Their ages were not disclosed. Hermosillo and Lee were convicted earlier this year of robbery, with Lee receiving an additional sentence for grand larceny, according to case records, while Garcia was convicted of organized retail theft with intent to sell and grand larceny over $950.
On October 18, 2023, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office in Palm Desert were assisted by the Los Angeles Retail Crimes Task Force, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Office of Correctional Safety’s Fugitive Team in serving four Los Angeles search warrants, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department statement.
“The search warrants stemmed from an extensive investigation into a robbery that occurred on Oct. 5 that resulted in a significant loss of high-value merchandise from a business in Palm Desert,” Cleveland wrote in a statement. “During the course of the investigation, members of the Riverside Sheriff’s Office developed leads and located evidence that helped identify the suspects involved in the robbery and two residential burglaries.”
Garcia, Barron and Lee were arrested the same day in different areas of Los Angeles County. Hermosillo was subsequently identified as the fourth suspect in the robbery.
On November 1, 2023, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Unit assisted Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies in serving a search warrant in the 2500 block of Macy Street in San Bernardino, and a warrant was also served in the 800 block of 99 3rd Street in Los Angeles, according to Cleveland. At the end of serving the warrants, Hermosillo was arrested.
Baca and Miller were identified and arrested Nov. 8 after members of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department served search warrants in the 600 block of West Eighth Street in San Bernardino and in the 9700 block of Budlong Avenue in Los Angeles, Cleveland said.
Garcia and Barron were booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Center in Banning, Lee into the John J. Detention Center. Benoit in Indio and Hermosillo at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, according to inmate records. Barron was being held on nearly $2.6 million bail, Garcia and Hermosillo on nearly $2.5 million and Lee on $310,000.
Barron previously pleaded guilty to grand theft over $950, according to court records. Garcia previously pleaded guilty to a burglary charge, while Hermosillo, Lee, Baca and Miller have no prior felony convictions in Riverside County.