We previously talked about Mercedes Carrera and her upcoming trial. You can read about that here.

Long story short, her trial date has been set and will begin on October 3, 2022.  Both she and her husband are facing four counts each. These are the specific charges that Mercedes must answer to.

• PC288.7(B) ORAL COP: VICT UNDER 10YRS
• PC288.5(A) CONT SEX ABUSE OF CHILD
• PC288A(C)(1) ORAL COP: PERSON -14YR/ETC
• HS11370.1(A) POSS CNTL SUB WHILE ARMED

Charge 1: Bigamy, Incest, and the Crime Against Nature: (b) Any person 18 years of age or older who engages in oral copulation or sexual penetration, as defined in Section 289, with a child who is ten years of age or younger is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 15 years to life.

Charge 2: Bigamy, Incest, and the Crime Against Nature: (a) Any person who either resides in the same home with the minor child or has recurring access to the child, who over a period of time, not less than three months in duration, engages in three or more acts of substantial sexual conduct with a child under the age of 14 years at the time of the commission of the offense, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1203.066, or three or more acts of lewd or lascivious conduct, as defined in Section 288, with a child under the age of 14 years at the time of the commission of the offense is guilty of the offense of continuous sexual abuse of a child and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 6, 12, or 16 years.

Charge 3: Bigamy, Incest, and the Crime Against Nature:  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (i), a person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act, including any of the acts constituting other crimes provided for in Part 1, upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child who is under the age of 14 years, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child, is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years.

(c) (1) A person who commits an act described in subdivision (a) with the intent described in that subdivision, and the victim is a child of 14 or 15 years, and that person is at least ten years older than the child, is guilty of a public offense and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for one, two, or three years, or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year. In determining whether the person is at least ten years older than the child, the difference in age shall be measured from the person’s birth date to the birth date of the child.

Charge 4: Miscellaneous Offenses and Provisions: (a)  Notwithstanding Section 11350 or 11377 or any other provision of law, every person who unlawfully possesses any amount of a substance containing cocaine base, a substance containing cocaine, a substance containing heroin, a substance containing methamphetamine, a crystalline substance containing phencyclidine, a liquid substance containing phencyclidine, plant material containing phencyclidine, or a hand-rolled cigarette treated with phencyclidine while armed with a loaded, operable firearm is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years. As used in this subdivision, “armed with” means having available for immediate offensive or defensive use.

Of the four remaining charges, how much time could she really be facing? I did some digging to find out.

• Charge 1: (Felony) Sexual Acts with a Child Under 10
• Charge 2: (Felony) Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child
• Charge 3: (Felony) Oral Copulation with a Minor
• Charge 4: (Felony) Possession of a Controlled substance While Armed

On the first charge, she faces life in prison.

On the second charge, she faces 6 to 12 years in prison.

She will be required to register as a sex offender on the third charge and faces up to three years in a California state prison.

This last charge is a health and safety code violation. Often times what people in porn get charged with. I mean health and safety code violations, not guns and drugs.  This particular charge carries up to 4 years in prison.

Also, keep in mind she’s already served three years in jail. So that means she gets credit for that. And although California parole law requires inmates to serve two-thirds of their determinate sentences before being paroled, they are making exceptions for many. Due to budget cuts and prison overcrowding, the state is back to allowing “day for day” credit, which allows parole after serving only half a sentence.

So there is a lot we don’t know. If she gets off on all the child abuse counts and only gets nailed with the drug and gun charges, then she could very well walk out of jail with just her time already served. We’ll see.