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Man Pleads Guilty To Setting Girlfriend On Fire

RIVERSIDE (CBS) — A Santa Ana man who doused his 23-year-old girlfriend in gasoline and set her aflame as he drove along Interstate 15 near Corona pleaded guilty Monday to attempted murder and making criminal threats.

Constantino Monterrosas Gamez, 39, could face 13 years in prison when he's sentenced by Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Molloy on Oct. 26.

Gamez changed his plea during a settlement conference at the Riverside Hall of Justice. He had pleaded not guilty to the felonies at the end of July.

Under a plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office, in exchange for his admissions, a false imprisonment charge against Gamez will be dropped, and so will sentence-enhancing weapons and great bodily injury allegations, all of which could have pushed his sentence above the 20-year mark.

Gamez remains held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

According to court documents, around 8 a.m. on July 15, Gamez and his then-girlfriend, Jessica Munoz, got into a argument while traveling southbound on Interstate 15, near Temescal Canyon Road, in the defendant's Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck.

During the argument, Gamez allegedly grabbed a can of gasoline and splashed a large amount of it on the woman, then ignited her using a cigarette lighter, according to the California Highway Patrol.

"The victim was able to remove her seatbelt and open the passenger door of the Chevy," said CHP Officer Sylvia Vargas. "She jumped from the moving vehicle and fell onto the roadway. Thankfully, she was not struck by any other
vehicles."

Gamez drove a short distance further, rear-ending a slow-moving garbage truck. He was not injured, nor was anyone in the other vehicle.

Munoz was rushed to a hospital for treatment of burns and other injuries from which she has since recovered.

One stipulation in the plea deal is that Gamez will not have any contact with Munoz for three years.

<<Related Story: Man Pleads Not Guilty To Setting Girlfriend Aflame

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