Man sentenced to 17½ years in Orlando baseball bat attack

ORLANDO, Fla. — The man accused of a brutal baseball bat attack on two women in downtown Orlando waived his right to go to trial, and instead, pleaded no contest before a judge Monday.

Investigators said 49-year-old Juan Carillo was caught on camera beating two women with a bat to steal a purse.

Carillo spoke through an interpreter to enter his plea. WFTV reporter Karla Ray found out Carillo said he felt pressured because of what has been shown in the media, but eventually said he was entering the plea of his own will.

Investigators said Carillo is the man seen in surveillance video from a weekend in February.

Two young women, Catherine Nguyen and Rebecca Naudasher, were trying to get into the Grande apartments after a night out downtown when they were beaten with a baseball bat by someone wearing a blue dress shirt and a black tie.

Police were able to trace Carillo to a "black and blue" birthday party held earlier that night.

The women had to have stitches and one had a swollen eye.

Investigators said Carillo used the womens' credit cards to buy gas and drugs.

Both women had staples and stitches in their heads, and those injuries were shown to the judge through pictures Monday, prompting her to sentence Carilloto 17-and-a-half years in prison, along with 5 five years of probation, despite his attorney's pleas for the minimum sentence of ten months.

He was given credit for time served of 131 days.

Carillo's victims got their chance to confront him about he was accused of doing.

Both women said they just want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

Their testimony Monday helped prompt the judge to give him the sentence he received and forced an apology out of the accused attacker.

Both women he is accused of attacking had taken the stand to say what sentence they thought he should face.

"It was cut so deep they couldn't stitch me up," Nguyen said in court.

"I got brutally hit in the head with a baseball bat by surprise for no reason at all," Naudasher said.

Carillo apologized through a translator.

"I'm very sorry for what happens to the victims, and it really makes my heart ache because I know I have hurt them," Carillo said.

The women said after they got out of court they're very relieved, and said his apology didn't mean a thing.

WFTV