Santa Maria resident Felix Nicolas, 39, was sentenced on Dec. 18 to serve 206 years to life in prison after being convicted of 16 felony counts. Those counts include solicitation to commit murder, aggravated sexual assault, oral copulation, rape of a minor, and attempted sodomy of a minor under the age of 14.
According to a press release sent out by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, Nicolas sexually assaulted three girls who were between the ages of 9 and 13 from 1999 to 2003.
Nicolas was originally arrested and booked in 2010. He was arrested again in 2011, while in jail, for attempting to hire a fellow inmate to kill two of his victims, currently 21 and 23 years old. The inmate told a guard about the plan and assisted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation of the murder for hire.
Nicolas was convicted of multiple sex crimes and a plot to murder his victims on Nov. 21. Prosecuting attorney Kevin Duffy said in the press release that the victims bravely testified in the trial and delivered moving statements at the sentencing hearing.
This article appears in Dec 26, 2013 – Jan 2, 2014.
