Trial looms for Cal Poly football players

January 16, 2015

A San Luis Obispo judge has ruled that enough evidence exists to bring to trial all five former Cal Poly football players accused of involvement in an attempted frat house robbery last August.

Cameron Akins, 19, is accused of holding up fraternity members at gunpoint and demanding drugs and cash. Jake Brito, 18; Kristaan Ivory, 20; Dominique Love, 19; Cortland Fort, 20; are alleged to have taken part in the plot.

On Thursday, a preliminary hearing concluded that involved all of the defendants except Akins. Their attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to convince Judge Donald Umhofer that prosecutors lacked probable cause against the defendants.

However, Umhofer ruled that Brito and Ivory will only face single counts of conspiracy to commit robbery.

Love and Fort each face nine charges, which include a series of attempted residential robberies, attempted residential burglaries and false imprisonment, according to a San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office news release. An enhancement pertaining to Akins carrying a gun is included in the charges Love and Fort face.

Akins is charged with all crimes accused of Love and Fort, as well as three additional counts that include resisting an executive officer. A judge has determined that enough evidence exists to bring Akins to trial, even though he did not join his alleged accomplices in court this week.

Chris Casciola, Fort’s attorney argued that his client had just arrived in town two weeks prior to the attempted robbery, and at the time, he did not know any of the co-defendants. Casciola said that Fort was the only sober person at a party earlier that night, and he was merely asked to drive the others.

But, Umhofer did not dismiss any of the charges against Fort.

Testimony from hearings earlier this week indicated that both Brito and Ivory knew a robbery was planned and opted to walk away from the scene after getting dropped off at the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity house. A detective testified that Brito began shaking and crying in a police interview when he heard Akins had a gun.

In his interview with police, Ivory said that he and Brito tried to convince the others not to go through with the robbery.

An arraignment in the case is set for Feb. 9 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.