QuickTake:

The 27-year-old is one of seven suspects, but only four are in custody. A prosecutor said in March three others allegedly involved are no longer in the United States.

A third defendant pleaded guilty Thursday, May 14, to a conspiracy charge after a string of home burglaries targeting Asian business owners in Oregon and Washington.

Steven Alexander Quiroga-Solano, a 27-year-old Colombian national, will be sentenced at a July 14 hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge Michael McShane said Wednesday.

Quiroga-Solano admitted to conspiring with others in connection with four burglaries or attempted burglaries that took place over a seven-day span last October, including a burglary of a home in Eugene. 

Prosecutors will recommend a sentence of about 21 months, Assistant U.S. Attorney William McLaren said.

If a sentence at least that long is imposed, the Lane County District Attorney’s Office will recommend a sentence not exceeding 18 months to run alongside the federal prison sentence should Quiroga-Solano be convicted on state charges, McLaren said.

Eugene police executed a search warrant the night of Oct. 9 at an Airbnb on Skyline Boulevard in Eugene, arresting seven suspects, all described by prosecutors as Colombian nationals.

Two other defendants, Jhon Alexander Quintero and William Estiven Rodriguez-Gaviria, previously pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. A fourth defendant, Derinson Martinez-Grandas, has a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, May 19.

After their arrests, each of the seven defendants eventually posted security and were released from jail. McLaren said in March the three others are “not in this country nor likely to return.” 

Four of the seven suspects released from jail were at some point detained, at least briefly, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the agency. At least two were taken into custody by ICE officers at the county jail, as shown in video from the Lane County Sheriff’s Office.

After his release, Quiroga-Solano was arrested Nov. 21 in Canada, prosecutors said in court documents.

“He admitted that, after being bailed out following his arrest … he traveled to Los Angeles and then bought a bus ticket to New York,” prosecutors said in a November court filing.

“There, he paid an individual $1,000 to take him into Canada through the woods. Upon arrival, he was caught by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who returned him to federal authorities in the Northern District of New York,” prosecutors said.

According to the court filing, Quiroga-Solano told authorities he traveled to visit his girlfriend and baby in Canada. McLaren said Thursday the sentencing recommendation for Quiroga-Solano will factor in an attempt to flee.