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A 22-year-old woman who masterminded the botched robbery of a West Jordan Taco Time earlier this year was sentenced to five years to life in prison on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Sherry Michelle Moreno — a former Taco Time employee who knew about the restaurant's closing-time routine — planned the March 18 crime and recruited a gunman to help her.
But Moreno said Tuesday in 3rd District Court that she did not mean for former co-worker Teresa Derrington to be shot and wounded by alleged accomplice Emilio Doloris Guzman.
When the pair pounded on the back door of the restaurant at around 10 p.m., employees opened the door to see who was there. Before the employees could pull the door shut again, Guzman allegedly fired a shot that struck Derrington, 35, in the chest.
The would-be robbers fled empty-handed and were arrested soon after by police.
Derrington, who spent a week in the hospital, still has the bullet in her body, Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Nathan Evershed told The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday.
Moreno had pleaded guilty as charged to one count of first-degree felony aggravated robbery. As part of her sentence, 3rd District Judge Mark Kouris ordered her to pay $118,409 in restitution to cover Derrington's medical bills.
Guzman, 23, also is charged with aggravated robbery. He is to appear in court for a pre-trial conference on Sept. 30.
Evershed, who called Moreno the "mastermind" of the robbery, said she knew of an earlier robbery at the Taco Time and believed it was a "quick and easy way" to get some cash. Moreno was fired from the restaurant about three months earlier for allegedly trying to steal a camera.