Home invader pleads guilty

CLOVIS — A man involved in a summer home invasion was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.

Skyler Romero, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary of a Clovis residence this summer, just weeks after receiving a sentence of more than two years last month on unrelated burglary charges.

Romero could be released in a little over four years for good behavior, said 10th Judicial District Attorney Tim Rose, who prosecuted the case after it was conflicted out of the 9th district.

Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover said the case was conflicted out because the victim in the home invasion case is related to one of the attorneys for the 9th Judicial District.

By the terms of the plea agreement reached Wednesday morning, prosecutors dropped Romero’s other charges of tampering with evidence and larceny of a firearm pertaining to the July burglary of a house in Clovis during which his alleged accomplice Roderick Cordova was shot by the homeowner.

Romero was at large after the incident for several days before turning himself in to police in early August.

He was sentenced Dec. 20 to 2 1/2 years in prison after a jury convicted him of possession of burglary tools and resisting arrest, pertaining to a May 21 incident in which he fled a police officer and discarded a wrench, screwdriver and pliers near an alley dumpster.

Cordova, 24, was treated for gunshot wounds and released into custody in late August. He is next scheduled for a docket call Feb. 6 for charges of aggravated burglary and larceny of a firearm pertaining to the July incident.

Rose said Romero’s sentence Wednesday includes three years of probation and will run consecutive to his sentence from last month.

“I think it’s a fair resolution to the case and a fair sentence Judge (Drew) Tatum handed down,” he said.

Romero’s defense attorney Leora Sue Hutchins declined comment.