Man sentenced to 25 years for stabbing near UNR campus during Wolf Pack game

Simon Cordova Rios Jr. will be eligible for parole in 10 years

Reno, Nevada. May 14, 2015. On Wednesday, May 13, 2015, Judge Connie J. Steinheimer sentenced defendant Simon Cordova Rios, Jr. to 25 years in prison for stabbing a man three times on North Sierra Street near the 7-Eleven and Little Waldorf Saloon on Aug. 30, 2014. The evidence presented at the trial showed the victim attempted to enter the first Wolfpack football game of the season using a ticket he had purchased from the defendant’s brother. The victim was denied access to the game because the ticket was fraudulent, and called to ask for a refund. Instead of receiving a refund, however, when the victim met the defendant and his brother at the 7-Eleven the defendant immediately pulled out a knife and threatened to stab the victim. The victim attempted to get away, but eventually fell down in the street and was stabbed three times in the leg by the defendant. Fortunately, for the victim, Officer Demetrius Kassebaum from the Reno Police Department arrived on the scene quickly and used the victim’s shirt as a tourniquet while he applied pressure to the victim’s wounds.

Over the past 19 years since the defendant became an adult, he has been either in jail, in prison, on probation, or on parole for all but 45 months. He has been convicted of nine felonies, including a prior conviction for a robbery that occurred in 2003. The defendant was sentenced to a term of 25 years in prison as a habitual offender. Judge Steinheimer noted the defendant’s lengthy criminal history and the violence of the stabbing that occurred in this case. The defendant will be eligible for parole after he has served 10 years in prison. The lengthy sentence in this case sends a strong message to our community that repeat, habitual criminals, especially those that are violent, will face stiff consequences for their repeated transgressions.

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