Joseph Issac Moralez booking photo from the Cache County Jail.
LOGAN — A 28-year-old state inmate has pleaded guilty to trying to start a fire in his jail cell last year. Joseph Issac Moralez waived his right to a fair trial and accepted a plea deal that will add more time to his existing sentence.
Moralez appeared last week in 1st District Court, appearing by web conference from the Utah State Prison. He pleaded guilty to possessing an item prohibited in a correctional facility, amended to a class A misdemeanor.
On May 17, 2022, Cache County Sheriff’s deputies were conducting a routine check of Moralez’s cell block. As they entered, they could smell an odor of burnt paper.
Security cameras showed Moralez had used pieces of broken graphite from a pencil, to start a piece of paper on fire in the common area of the block. He put the pieces of graphite in each side of an electric outlet and then used a third piece to complete the circuit, producing a bright flash.
As the graphite heated up, he ignited a piece of paper.
Deputies reported Moralez was the only one in the common area at the time of the fire. They were also able to collect pieces of graphite and burnt paper as evidence.
According to court records, Moralez is from Vernal. He and two other individuals robbed a Vernal home in August 2017 and then fled the area. Within a month, all three were caught in Colorado and extradited back to Utah.
Moralez accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to aggravated burglary in August 2018. He was later sentenced to serve five-years-to-life in the Utah State Prison.
The Cache County Sheriff’s Office has a contract with the Utah Department of Corrections, to house some prison inmates in the Cache County Jail for a fee if space is available.
During last week’s hearing, defense attorney Cameron Cox explained that in exchange for Moralez’s guilty plea, prosecutors dropped three remaining charges.
Judge Spencer Walsh scheduled sentencing for June 26, when Moralez could face an additional year of incarceration.