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Man Sentenced for Burglary of Cannabis Business in Soledad & for a Group Assault on an Inmate at Monterey County Jail



Salinas, California- Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on Thursday, February 14 that Judge Rafael Vazquez sentenced 42-year-old Nataniala Uta to 3 years in prison after he pleaded no contest to felony assault likely to cause great bodily injury and felony burglary.
In July of 2019, a cannabis business in Soledad employed Uta. However, Uta became angry about a personnel matter and drove to the business with a codefendant, Joe Ramirez. Video surveillance captured Uta using a crowbar to pry open the door to the business. Uta then entered the office and stole a brand-new laptop. Both Uta and Ramirez also stole some marijuana.
In November of 2019, while Uta was in custody at the Monterey County Jail, he took part in a 6-on-1 group assault on another inmate. Surveillance video from the jail showed that Uta and 5 other inmates attacked another inmate. The video revealed that Uta struck the victim at least 5 times. The victim suffered bleeding from his nose and mouth, swelling and redness on his left eye, redness on his forehead, and multiple scratches to his arm. The assault also knocked out one of his front teeth and dislodged another tooth.
At the time of the crimes, Uta was on felony probation for a 2013 felony assault charge. At the sentencing, Judge Rafael Vazquez revoked his probation and sentenced Uta to 2 years in prison, which will run concurrently with the 3 years he will serve for the jail assault and cannabis burglary.
These cases were investigated by Monterey County Sheriff’s Deputies Robert Lee and Robert Gonzalez.

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