Baker City man gets 135-day jail sentence for contempt of court
Published 10:25 am Tuesday, March 11, 2025
A 19-year-old Baker City man was sentenced to 135 days in the Baker County Jail for two contempt of court charges.
Ernesto Ray Lopez-Villalvazo was also sentenced to probation and required to have a mental health evaluation after a bench trial before Judge Matt Shirtcliff in Baker County Circuit Court on Thursday, March 6.
Lopez-Villalvazo is also charged with theft of services, a Class A misdemeanor. That charge is pending.
According to court records, Lopez-Villalvazo stayed two nights at the Rodeway Inn motel in Baker City in early January and failed to pay the bill.
He is also accused of having Superior Towing deliver fuel to him on Interstate 84 on Dec. 31, 2024, and driving away without paying. He is also charged with recklessly endangering another person, for allegedly driving off at a speed that had the Superior Towing employee worried about being hit.
Lopez-Villalvazo has been in the Baker County Jail since his most recent arrest, on Feb. 2.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Halliday is handling the prosecution.
Jayson has worked at the Baker City Herald since November 1992, starting as a reporter. He has been editor since December 2007. He graduated from the University of Oregon Journalism School in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in news-editorial journalism.
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