Ex-Long Beach Marriott hotel cook who threatened to shoot up workplace last year pleads no contest to felony charges

The former Long Beach Marriott hotel worker who threatened to shoot up his workplace last year pleaded no contest to two counts of felony threats on Monday and faces up to more than three years in prison, officials said.

Rodolfo Montoya, 37, of Huntington Beach, was arrested Aug. 20 after another employee alerted authorities that Montoya told him of plans to carry out a mass shooting targeting fellow employees and customers at the hotel near the Long Beach Airport. Long Beach police took Montoya into custody at his home in Huntington Beach, where officials said they found high-powered firearms including an illegal assault rifle, high-capacity magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and tactical gear.

“Montoya had clear plans, intent and the means to carry out an act of violence that may have resulted in a mass casualty incident,” Police Chief Robert Luna said at a press conference the day after his arrest.

The employee who Montoya threatened on Aug. 19 alerted his boss about what happened, and hotel management then called police, officials said earlier.

Montoya, as a result of the plea, faces three years and eight months in state prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said. His sentencing is scheduled on Jan. 27 at the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse in Long Beach.