Minnesota woman sentenced to 60-days of house arrest for vandalism to St. Cloud mosque
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Victoria Veliz, 26, was sentenced to 60-days of house arrest on Tuesday for her role in vandalizing the St. Cloud Islamic Center in 2022.
In addition to house arrest, Veliz was also sentenced to five years of probation and community service hours in lieu of a fine.
Security footage from the mosque showed that on Sept. 8, 2022 around 1 a.m., Veliz and Logan Smith, 24, entered the mosque. The next day around 4 a.m., an employee arrived to the premise to find multiple areas of damages.
At the scene, officers found a hole in the ceiling, a damaged leather chair, bloody paper towels, and papers strewn about. A piece of paper with Arabic writing on it had a suspect's initials written in blood.
They also found a keycard for a hotel at the scene. The officers went to the hotel, where they found Smith and Veliz.
Veliz and Smith both pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary charges in February.
Veliz sentence was similar to Smith's who received 180 days of local confinement at the county jail.
Smith's confinement is staggered in 60-day increments. His first stint in jail was on June 19. He'll also report to jail in November and next June.
Veliz must start house arrest and electric monitoring by Jan. 5, 2024 or she'll have to report to jail to serve that time.
