In what was supposed to be a simple pretrial hearing for one of the six suspects in an attempted murder case ended up being a plea hearing.

Desmund Cantu entered “Guilty” pleas in two cases that were combined into one. He entered guilty pleas to aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault. All other charges including attempted 1st degree murder was dropped by the state.

The defense is expected to file departure motions, while the state no doubt will argue for a stiff penalty. Cantu will be sentenced on September 13, at 10 a-m.

He is the only one of the six to enter into an agreement with the state so far.

Recently Judge Tim Chambers set a motion deadline, but no trial date for Jordon LeShore in the attempted murder case, but continued the pretrial hearing for his brother Joseph because of possible plea negotiations there. Joseph also waived his right to a speedy trial in the hopes of reaching a plea deal with the state. The case will come before the court again a week from Friday to see where things stand.

For one of the other suspects, Judge Chambers set a motion deadline of August 30, with the trial possibly in September. That being Sean Arevalo Mendoza. He also agreed to lower his bond to 50-thousand based on preliminary hearing testimony which showed he had a minor role in the case.

He along with the LeShore brothers, Sean Arevalo-Mendoza, Troy Bell and John Robert Cantu are accused with the beating and stabbing of Jeffrey Payne. The attack on Payne occurred back on February 18, when these men allegedly broke into his home and physically attacked and stabbed him numerous times in the leg and torso.

Cantu’s other case involved the burglary of building at 228 West B on February 22.

John Robert Cantu has a pretrial hearing scheduled for Friday which would leave Troy Bell as the only one who hasn’t had a hearing thus far.