| Crime Rival Shot By James Felton in
2016 Edwin Romero Gets 35 Years From SDNY
Judge Preska
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
The
Times (UK) Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Nov 26 – In
December 2016 in The Bronx
Edwin Romero robbed a drug
dealer who worked for a rival
gang. The leader of that gang,
James Felton, came to 175th
Street and Weeks Avenue and
shot Romero four times,
causing Romero to lose his
right eye.
This
injury, and the US Attorney's
sentencing memorandum in
Felton's case
which described Romero
"turn[ing] to walk away"
before Felton shot him, were
raised by Romero's defense
lawyer Michael K. Bachrach at
Romero's sentencing on
November 26 before U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Loretta A. Preska.
The problem was, Romero in
pleading guilty a year ago to
conspiracy to distribute 280
grams or more of crack cocaine
also stipulated to having shot
and killed Jose Montalvo on
May 13, 2004, also on 175th
Street, this at the corner of
Monroe Avenue, and to a series
of crime since.
At the sentencing Assistant US
Attorney Frank J. Balsamello
describe Romero has having
thrown a loaded gun into a
taxi with his then-pregnant
girlfriend, and having
recruited a generation of
young men on Weeks Avenue to
sell crack.
Bachbach, in a stretch, asked
Judge Preska for the 10 year
minimum sentence, closing with
the concept that mitigation is
not making an
excuse.
Judge Preska, after reciting
Romero's crimes which led to
quiet groaning and even some
tears in the courtroom gallery
where Inner City Press was the
only media, imposed a sentence
of 420 months or 35 years, to
be followed by five years of
supervised release. (Romero
would be 72 years old by
then).
She said
the sentence should be
publicized as a matter of
general deterrence. The SDNY
and Federal court system
generally, while often moving
in that direction, could
better facilitate reporting,
particularly in real-time. But
here is this report. The case
is US v. Romero,
17-cr-123 (Preska).
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2019 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|
,
