Two men involved in a string of brutal home invasion robberies from 2016 were found guilty in court Monday. In some of the robberies, the victims were tied up and sexually assaulted.
Aaron Rico III and Thomas Smith were charged on multiple counts, including conspiracy to commit a crime, sex with a foreign object, assault during a first-degree burglary, robbery and burglary specifically relating to a January 2016 Sorrento Valley in which a mother of three was tied up and sexually assaulted.
Rico was found guilty on 27 counts and Smith was found guilty on all 30 counts.
The series of break-ins were in Sorrento Valley, Rancho Bernardo, Sabre Springs and Carmel Mountain Ranch. The suspects entered the homes through unlocked doors.
Aaron Rico V, Aaron’s Rico III’s brother and a minor who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the break-ins last December and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
They are three of seven co-defendants facing charges in the burglaries.
The charges range from robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping for ransom and in one case sexual assault.
Both men face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
