Guilty Plea in 5 Slayings

An Encino man who was part of an alleged kidnap-for-ransom ring has pleaded guilty in state court to killing five Los Angeles County residents whose bodies were found in a Northern California lake, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The plea agreement struck Monday between Ainar Altmanis and the district attorney’s office came more than a year after he entered a deal with the U.S. attorney’s office to avoid a possible death penalty in the upcoming federal case.

“He has agreed to cooperate with the federal government and the state government,” said Sally Thomas, chief of the organized crime division of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

State prosecutors agreed to reduce Altmanis’ first-degree murder charge, which carries up to a life sentence, to voluntary manslaughter. They also promised to seek no more than a 20-year sentence, to run simultaneously with any federal prison time, in exchange for his cooperation in the case, which is headed for trial in federal court in August.

Altmanis’ attorney, Steve Sitkoff, said he had tried to dissuade prosecutors from going after his client in state court.

“It’s sort of a waste of taxpayers’ money. It’s basically a duplicative prosecution,” Sitkoff said. “They said they owed an obligation to the people of the state of California.”

Federal charges are pending against five alleged co-conspirators in the case, three of whom could face the death penalty. The district attorney’s office has not yet accused anyone other than Altmanis of the crimes.