Sisters man sentenced to over 20 years in prison

Juan Carlos Sanchez, former owner of Sisters Video, was sentenced by Judge Alta Brady of the Deschutes County Circuit Court on April 5 to a total of 275 months in prison after pleading guilty via an Alford Plea last month to charges of Rape I, Sexual Abuse II, Encouraging Child Sex Abuse and Coercion.

An Alford Plea is a type of guilty plea in criminal court in which a person may assert a measure of innocence while admitting that the evidence and facts of the case will most likely result in a conviction by judge or jury.

Sanchez was originally arrested on November 2, 2009, and charged with 58 counts including felony Rape 1, Sexual Abuse II and III, Coercion, Endangering the Welfare of a Minor and Private Indecency. He posted $50,000 bail and was released from Deschutes County Adult Jail in Bend pending trial June 1, 2010 only to be re-arrested on December 11, 2010, for violating the terms of his release after failing to report a temporary change in his residential address.

Sanchez was processed and released this week to the Oregon Department of Corrections and will be transferred to the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville for evaluation to determine at which state facility he will serve his time.