Jason Race is shown at the Luzerne County Courthouse on March 25, 2026.
Ed Lewis | Times Leader file photo
WILKES-BARRE — The only good news admitted killer Jason Race received Tuesday was 815 days of credit for time served since his arrest in March 2024 for torturing and giving the fatal kick to Nicole Cuevas inside a Carlisle Street, Wilkes-Barre, residence dubbed “House of Horrors.”
The credit means nothing as Race, 45, was sentenced to life in prison with no parole by Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. For procedural purposes, Race was further sentenced to consecutive 25 to 80 years in prison.
Race was sentenced on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and aggravated assault involving Cuevas, 38, and did not contest an aggravated assault offense for beating Anthony Cook. As part of the plea agreement Race entered March 25, he gave up most of his appellate rights.
Race is the first to be sentenced among four other defendants.
Sarai Kamalani Doyle, 25, pled guilty to third-degree murder for her role in Cuevas’ murder, including a separate third-degree murder plea for killing Debra Fox, 69, inside a hotel room at the Host Inn on Kidder Street, Wilkes-Barre.
Desiree Kehaun Linnette, 45, pled guilty to first-degree murder for her role in Cuevas’ murder, a separate first-degree murder plea for killing Fox at the hotel, and assaulting Cook.
Sentencing dates for Doyle and Linnette have not been scheduled.
Faith Beamer, 41, and William Benjamin Wolfe, 56, a registered sex offender, charged for their roles in Cuevas’ murder, remain open in the Court of Common Pleas.
Court records and unsealed search warrants say Wilkes-Barre City police detectives went to 142 Carlisle St. on Feb. 27, 2024, after a child told a counselor that a woman was killed and buried in the basement of the residence. Cuevas’ body was found wrapped in a tarp about one foot below the basement surface.
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, who prosecuted, previously said Cuevas traveled with Linnette from Saginaw, Mich., in February 2023, and stayed at the Carlisle Street home. Shortly after arriving, Cuevas wanted to return to Michigan but was kept against her will inside the house, where she was assaulted for about a month before Race killed her when she attempted to escape in late April 2023, court records say.
Fox formerly owned the Carlisle Street house, but lost it at a county tax sale.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Race opted to remain silent when given an opportunity to speak by Sklarosky.
Sanguedolce said “circumstances” of the case are well-known during Race’s sentencing hearing.
Cook was beaten inside the Carlisle Street house when he was falsely accused by Race and Linnette of molesting a child. Cook escaped and summoned help from city police on July 27, 2023.
Assistant Public Defender Stephen W. Palubinsky represented Race.