| Bronx
Man Pled Guilty to Bear Spray Jewelry
Store Robbery & Got 70 Months 2d Wants
42
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY MAG COURT
EXCLUSIVE, Nov 17 - In
the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York on November 8, 2022 a
detention or bond proceeding
was held by Magistrate Judge
Sarah L. Cave on a defendant
charged with using bear spray,
hammers and a gun to rob a
jewelry store in The Bronx of
$800,000.
After legal
arguments, he was detained.
Inner City Press was there,
the only media in the Mag
Court.
The
defendant Pablo Armando
Valenzuela was brought into
court after 5 pm, with a
hospital bracelet on. It was
explained that he had recently
had surgery for thyroid cysts.
His girlfriend, his sister and
her boyfriend were in the
gallery, along with Inner City
Press.
Assistant
US Attorney Amanda Weingarten
noted that the defendant had
been taken the hospital
because he picked at a scab,
and he still made it to the
courthouse before the noon
cut-off to be presented,
albeit past 5 pm. She said
while being arrested in his
apartment on Sheridan Avenue
in the Bronx, where the
robbery she said was planned,
the defendant tried to hide
behind his mother.
The assigned
Federal Defender asked for
release on bond, noting the
family support and that no gun
had been recovered.
According to the
complaint, "On August 10,
2022, VALENZUELA long with at
least five other
co-conspirators, committed an
armed robbery of a jewelry
store in the Bronx, New York,
using a firearm, bear spray,
and hammers. On the
evening of August 10,
VALENZUELA entered the jewelry
store wearing a ski mask and
sprayed a can of bear spray
into the eyes of jewelry store
employees, temporarily
blinding them. Five
other masked robbers entered
the jewelry store, and used
hammers to destroy glass
display cases. At least
one robber brandished a
firearm. VALENZUELA and
the other robbers then stole
over $800,000 worth of jewelry
before fleeing on mopeds, in
cars, and by foot."
Judge Cave
ordered Valenzuela detained as
a risk to the community, and
set the preliminary hearing
for 14 days out, if he is not
indicted by the grand jury
before then. When asked, she
allowed him a kiss with his
girlfriend, who wept as he was
led back into the holding
cell.
Jump cut to June
30, 2023 when in the
Magistrates Court which Inner
City Press alone covers, again
before Judge Cave, Valenzuela
and his co-defendant Aaron
Miller both pled guilty, but
only to Count 2, Hobbs Act
robbery, not the gun charge.
Jump cut again to
September 15, 2023, when
Valenzuela was up for
sentencing. Inner City Press
was there,
thread:
As Assistant US
Attorney Amanda Weingarten
describes aggressive use of
bear spray, Valenzuela in a
tan prison uniform emblazoned
"Justice Center," leans over
to whisper to his Federal
Defender.
Valenzuela:
Male FBI agents touched my
mother in her bathrobe. They
thew flash bang grenades. I
would have surrendered. The
prosecutor is trying to make
me look like a demon.
US wants 87
months; he wants 36. Judge: I
sentence you to 70 months.
On November 17,
co-defendant Aaron Miller
asked for 42 months.
The case is US v.
Valenzuela, et al., 22-cr-633
(Marrero)
***
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