MIAMI BEACH
Sushi-chef rapist sentenced to 40 years in prison.
South Beach's sushi-chef rapist pleaded guilty to four sexual attacks and will spend 40 years in prison.

BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com
Arturo Ortiz-Soto, the sushi-chef rapist who terrorized South Beach women for two years, is going to prison for 40 years.

The 31-year-old former chef pleaded guilty Monday to raping two women and attempting to rape two others. He will be deported to his native Guatemala when he is released from prison.

``You have irreparably changed the lives of your victims by your behavior,'' Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzer told him. ``I do believe this sentence will sufficiently guarantee you do no more harm to our citizens.''

Ortiz-Soto worked as a sushi chef at various Miami Beach restaurants, the last a rooftop sushi bar at the Gansevoort South Hotel. His spree included:

• Raping a woman he met outside Jerry's Famous Deli in November 2006. Claiming he owned his own sushi restaurant, Ortiz-Soto bought her a calzone then lured her to an alleyway off 14th Street and Collins Avenue.

• Raping a woman in an alley off Collins Avenue and Ninth Street. Ortiz-Soto spied her leaving Mango's Tropical Cafe and lured her into the alley by promising to sell her marijuana. ``Forgive me, I'm sorry,'' he told the woman after the attack, before running off.

• Attempting to rape a woman he met at The Office bar in September 2007. He brutally beat her in an alley off Fourth Street -- after offering her pizza -- but the woman was able to break free.

• Trying to rape a woman in an alley off Collins Avenue and 14th Street in July 2008. He punched the woman several times but was scared off by the screams of a passerby.

Eagle-eyed Miami Beach police officers noticed Ortiz-Soto -- his shirt soaked in blood -- hopping into a taxi. He was quickly arrested and confessed to the rape spree, officials said.

The final attack was caught on video surveillance, and prosecutor Ivonne Sanchez-Ledo said there also was DNA evidence in the two rape cases.

Ortiz-Soto, who had faced up to 140 years in prison if convicted in all four cases, was set to start trial for the 2008 attack on Monday.

The state and defense attorney Christopher DeCoste initially worked out a plea deal for 30 years in prison. Judge Venzer rejected it as too lenient.

Ortiz-Soto agreed to the additional decade in prison.

Asked by the judge if anyone forced him to accept the plea, Ortiz-Soto responded: ``My conscience.''





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