LOGANSPORT — A 23-year-old Logansport man will get credit for time served and may be deported after Cass County Superior Court II Judge Rick Maughmer agreed Monday to a plea the man entered for the 2009 shaking of his infant son.
Jose Marciano Rocha-Acosta pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury. A count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury was dropped as part of the agreement. He was sentenced to seven years in the Indiana Department of Correction.
The judge gave Rocha-Acosta credit for the 930 days he spent in the Cass County Jail awaiting trial and suspended the balance of the sentence, which would have made Rocha-Acosta eligible for release after sentencing had he not faced a hold from federal immigration officials.
The man’s attorney, Brent Dechert, indicated that his client might face deportation.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Lisa Swaim said the child was still suffering from the effects of his injuries.
“The defendant is taking responsibility for harming this child,” she said, adding she had spoken to the family before entering the agreement. “They wanted an entirely mitigated plea agreement.”
Logansport police arrested Rocha-Acosta July 23, 2009, after he shook his then-three-week-old son, Xevier A. Rocha. According to a police report, Rocha-Acosta admitted to mishandling his son after an argument with Aurora Pascual, the child’s mother and his live-in girlfriend.
After Pascual left the house to cool off, Rocha-Acosta told police, Xevier began to cry because he was hungry. In an attempt to calm the child, Rocha-Acosta said, he bounced the child up and down in his arms several times without supporting the baby’s head.
Xevier fell limp in his father’s arms, stopped breathing and was taken by his father to the emergency room at Logansport Memorial Hospital. The child was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was initially listed in critical condition.
Dechert said Rocha-Acosta had no previous record.
“It appears to be an isolated incident,” Dechert said.
Swaim said several factors contributed to the delay, including a large amount of discovery, medical depositions and changes in private representation and public defenders over the years.
• Jason M. Rodriguez is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or jason.rodriguez@pharostribune.com.
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
