FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — At 25 years old, a one-time Fresno State student-athlete is back in jail after years out on bond and has to register as a sex offender.
“I do not want this mistake to define me,” Isaiah Perez said in Fresno County court on Tuesday as he asked for mercy.
Perez, once arrested for rape, served alcohol and drugged a 15-year-old in November 2020, according to witnesses. They previously testified that he got the girl intoxicated and then forced her into having sex.
“I was young, reckless and tremendously just dumb,” Perez said. “I accept full responsibility for all of my actions.”
Administrators dismissed Perez from Fresno State’s wrestling team and called the incident at the off-campus Bulldog Village apartments “disturbing.”
Perez denied it for years, but as prosecutors prepared for trial and with a life sentence looming, he pleaded no contest to sexual battery and unlawful intercourse.
“This single incident is not representative of his behavior, and there is no indication that he would not be successful on probation,” Perez’s defense attorney said.
Prosecutors pushed back on Tuesday as they highlighted the victim’s wishes.
“In my discussion with her, before we were doing the resolution, she did want the defendant held accountable with some custody time for his actions,” the prosecutor said of her conversation with the confidential victim.
The judge then denied probation and sentenced Perez to three years in prison immediately.
The courtroom deputy swiftly moved as Perez went from a free man hoping for probation to a prisoner in seconds.
Perez’s loved ones seemed surprised as they shook their heads and cried.
“He took advantage of a vulnerable person when she could not take care of herself,” Fresno County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Negin said.
Perez has 60 days to appeal his sentence.
