A five-year prison sentence has been ordered for Charles Steve Ortez, 64, who stole Twinkies and other items from a Twin Peaks Market at gunpoint in October 2012. (File Photo)
By G. T. Houts
UPDATE: Thursday, January 15 – 10:23 a.m.
San Bernardino, CA – Judge Elia V. Pirozzi sentenced Twinkies Bandit Charles Steve Ortez, 64, to five years in state prison for the October 2012 armed robbery of Mountain High Market in Twin Peaks taking Twinkies, milk, Coke, whiskey and cash.
THE SENTENCE
Ortez appeared before Judge Pirozzi on Wednesday and changed his plea to guilty to guilty to one count of robbery. A restitution fine of $300 will be collected by the Department of Collections and another $300 fine was stayed pending successful completion of parole.
The Twinkies Bandit was sentenced to a total term of five years in state prison with credit for time served of 926 days.
Ortez was remanded to the custody of the San Bernardino County Sheriff to be delivered to the California Department of Corrections at Chino.
ORIGINAL STORY
San Bernardino, CA – Charles Steve Ortez, Jr. — the so-called Twinkies Bandit — returns to San Bernardino County Superior Court for a disposition/reset hearing at 8:30 a.m. in Department S-9, on Wednesday, January 14. Ortez, now 64, is accused of robbing a Twin Peaks convenience store at gunpoint of Twinkies and other items.
Mountain High Market in Twin Peaks. (Photo by ROTWNEWS.com)
On Wednesday, December 10, Judge Elia V. Pirozza continued the case against Ortez — at the request of interim defense counsel Samra Roth after hearing full-time counsel Derrick Smith was working on a possible resolution to the case.
Ortez remains in custody at the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino on $500,000 bail. He has entered a not guilty plea to all charges.
THE TWINKIES CASE
Ortez, Jr. is charged with allegedly robbing Mountain High Market in Twin Peaks on Monday, October 1, 2012, of Twinkies, milk, Coke, whiskey and cash.
The armed robbery, utilizing a Taurus .38-caliber revolver, took place about three minutes before the market was scheduled to close for the night, according to a media release issued by the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Station.
The robber was carrying a black duffel bag and he utilized it to carry the items taken after he ordered the female cashier to lie on the floor while he added money from the register.
The gun believed used in the robbery was recovered when Ortez was arrested at 9:30 a.m. on October 31, 2012. (315)