Philadelphia, PA – A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for a violent stalking assault that left his former partner permanently disfigured, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced Friday.
Victor Ortiz, 47, was also ordered to pay $3,300 in restitution following his conviction for a premeditated chemical attack on a woman he previously dated.
According to court documents, on the morning of May 4, 2022, Ortiz waited near the woman’s workplace and threw soda ash, a corrosive chemical, onto her face and upper body. The victim suffered intense pain, temporary blindness, and permanent scarring.
The investigation later revealed Ortiz had secretly planted a GPS tracking device on the victim’s car in the weeks leading up to the assault. After law enforcement removed the tracker, Ortiz was caught on surveillance in July 2022 trying to install another.
Officials also noted Ortiz’s history of stalking behavior:
In 2005, he was convicted of harassing his ex-wife in Delaware County.
In 2016, a court ruled he had placed a GPS device in another ex-girlfriend’s vehicle.
“Victor Ortiz has a troubling pattern of refusing to move on when his relationships end,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf. “This sentence keeps him off the street, holds him accountable, and secures some measure of justice for the innocent woman he was so determined to hurt.”
Ortiz’s conviction is another example of how federal authorities are using stalking laws and surveillance evidence to hold violent offenders accountable.
