PEARLAND, Texas – A Pearland man was sentenced to 82 years in prison for brutally beating and sexually assaulting a man at a northwest Harris County bar.
“This was a savage and unprovoked attack on a stranger that continued to escalate until the authorities broke it up,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “Random violence can never be tolerated, and we agree with the jury that this man should be sent to prison for decades.”
Felix Vale, 38, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault Tuesday for his role in beating a fellow patron at a bar unconscious and then continuing to beat and assault him on Feb. 17, 2021.
The 49-year-old victim and a friend had gone to a bar in the 17000 block of Ella Boulevard for a few drinks. Surveillance video showed they were peacefully sitting at the bar when they were confronted by an angry couple, Felix Vale and Ariel Cordoba.
The couple left the bar and returned about 10 minutes later. They then attacked the victim, who was knocked unconscious within the first five seconds of the beating. The couple continued to hit the victim with their fists, feet, a barstool and a gun for almost a half-hour until deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrived. The attack happened during Houston’s historic ice storm, which delayed law enforcement.
During the beating, the couple took the victim’s wallet and sexually assaulted him. He underwent several surgeries related to the attack and continues to recover.
Assistant District Attorney Ryan Volkmer, who prosecuted the case with ADA Jarrell Gibson, said jurors wanted to send a message that a crime this serious would be punished just as seriously.
“We told the jury that this case would probably be the hardest thing they would ever have to listen to or see video of, and it was,” he said. “They wanted to send a message to the community, to the defendant and the co-defendant and most importantly to the victim that the prison sentence should be as severe as what he went through.”
Volkmer also thanked the witnesses for their bravery in facing the defendant in court and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for its hard work.
Vale was sentenced by a jury after a four-day trial. The case against Cordoba, 31, is pending. She has pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced Dec. 19.
GCDAO
News by Breaking911
