Another alleged victim in the jury trial of Dr. Mark Soto testified Thursday of the fear he felt if didn’t comply with demands from Soto and Kevin Bronson.

Soto faces three counts of corrupt business influence and three counts of intimidation.   

In testimony Thursday, David Baker, an Ohio attorney, said he was contacted by Soto to provide legal assistance for a planned movie deal about Bronson’s life story.  

Soto was indicted with former martial arts instructor Bronson and former Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine by a grand jury in February 2016. All charges connecting Rovenstine to Bronson and Soto were dropped.

Rovenstine pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced in May to felony intimidation based on a heated phone call with Warsaw police officer Paul Heaton, who was investigating Bronson.

Bronson pleaded guilty in July to one count of corrupt business influence and will be sentenced in September.

In testimony Thursday, Baker said he only performed legal services for Bronson and Soto out of fear for his safety.

Baker got involved after a mutual friend introduced him to Soto. Baker said he had heard of Soto’s reputation through his association with the Grace Brethren Church.

Baker said many people spoke highly of Bronson during their time at Grace College.

Baker agreed to prepare  some contracts for a proposed movie deal Bronson was working on about his life, chronicling a life of drugs and crime before turning his life over to God.

Baker said he drove to Warsaw and met with Bronson and Soto at the Golden Corral restaurant in 2011.

Bronson was an inmate at the Kosciusko County Jail at the time, but Soto made arrangements to have  Bronson temporarily released from the jail. Under the discretion of then-Captain Rovenstine, Bronson was allowed to go the meeting at the restaurant and was accompanied by a jail employee. At one point, Rovenstine attended the meeting to serve as a guard, Baker said.

Baker said Bronson was dressed in civilian clothes and was not handcuffed or shackled.

There, Bronson told Baker his story, about how the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist gang, would only set him free from his connections with the group if he made a movie that would include his role with the group.

As Baker was leaving, Bronson told him, “We’re joined at the hip now,” Baker said in testimony Thursday.

Baker said the statement  reminded him of the stories Bronson told him about watching people brutally murdered by the gang while  in prison in Florence, Ariz. He said he got the feeling that the same would happen to him if he didn’t cooperate.

Later, Baker, Nate McLaurin, Soto and Bronson met at a church in Van Wert, Ohio. During the meeting, Soto and Bronson expressed concern that money promised by McLaurin would not continue.

Baker said Soto and Bronson told him there was a  group of bikers in Van Wert ready to take action if they didn’t comply.

Baker agreed and left the church. He stayed on the phone with McLaurin to ensure their  safety, Baker said.

Baker said he got several emails from Soto asking him about the progress of the movie. The emails referred to “those watching us were not happy with the lack of progress.”

Baker said he continued to work for the two without any compensation, which included flying to Los Angeles to meet with people about the movie. One of those people was a talent agent named Nelson Diaz. Baker said Bronson told him to remove Diaz from the plan once he expressed doubts over the truthfulness of Bronson’s claims.

Baker said he had doubts about Bronson’s story, but every time he asked Soto if it was real, Soto confirmed he had seen the files and it was real.

“I had no reason not to trust Soto,” Baker said.

Scott Lennox, lawyer for Soto, asked Baker why he worked with the two men for more than four years if he feared for his life.

Baker responded he tried to delay plans to work for Bronson as much as he could.

Lennox argued that no consequences came to Baker or anyone else who spurned Soto and Bronson. He mentioned all the movie producers who met with Bronson and rejected his pitch were never harmed.

Lennox asked why Baker didn’t call the police as Baker never did. Baker didn’t come forward until the police contacted him.

Baker said he understood that he was being watched at all time.

“The Aryan Brotherhood is a prison gang. Do they think they became a prison gang by not getting caught?” Lennox said.

Lennox asked Baker about his financial stake in the company and insinuated that Baker may have been involved in the movie in order to financially profit.

Baker said he was never in it for the money because he knew the movie deal was unlikely to happen.

Lennox also challenged Baker on why he thought Soto had access to the leadership of the Aryan Brotherhood referred to as “Sky Blue”

“Mark told me,” Baker said.

“Did you ever hear Soto  talking to the Brotherhood on  the phone? Did you ever see Aryan Brotherhood members near your house or business?” Lennox asked.

Baker responded he saw people he believed to be Aryan gang members but never saw their gang tattoos known as patches.

“I saw Bronson’s patch,” he added.

Thursday afternoon, Rebecca Soto, Mark Soto’s daughter, took the stand. An attorney, she drafted a will for Bronson while he was in jail in 2011. The will listed Soto as the executor of the estate. The will listed both Mark and Rebecca Soto as benefactors of the will. Also listed were Rovenstine, current sheriff Rocky Goshert and current Kosciusko Superior Court II Judge Torrey Bauer, who was a lawyer at the time. The Kosciusko County Republican Party also was listed in Bronson’s will among others.

Rebecca said she knew the will was meaningless, because Bronson had no money. “I knew it was playing with monopoly money,” she said.

Lennox asked Rebecca if  she ever heard Bronson threaten her father. She said she never  heard a specific threat but often heard Bronson speaking to Mark in an “angry” tone.

The trial is scheduled to continue later today with Bronson expected to take the stand.