'Junior' case comes to close with sentencing of 5 men
CONCOURSE, the Bronx (PIX11) -- The final five men charged in the death of Bronx teenager Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz were sentenced in court late Friday morning.
Thirteen men in total were implicated in the case and have served time. The men sentenced on Friday, who'd argued that they were not directly involved in the killing of the 15-year-old in 2018, had all agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in the first degree in exchange for specific sentences.
The prison terms issued on Friday ranged from 12 to 18 years.
Ralph Fabrizio formally announced each man's sentence after Junior's mother, Leandra Feliz, made a statement in court in Spanish. Through a court translator, she said that she'd wanted more harsh prison terms for the convicts.
"If I had the power to sentence these men, I'd make it 300 years as an example," Feliz said. "These killers should never be able to step out of their cell so they know that by taking the life of my son, they take away their life as well."
The defendants and their sentences are:
- Danilo Payamps Pacheco, 12 years
- Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, 12 years
- Ronald Urena, 15 years
- José Tavarez, 15 years
- Danel Fernandez, 18 years
Fernandez's sentence was 15 years, plus an additional three years due to an unrelated weapons case.
Two of the men, Fernandez and Urena, chose to speak in court. Urena asked Junior's mother to forgive him. Fernandez apologized to his own family, which prompted the judge, Ralph Fabrizio, to rebuke Fernandez for not asking for forgiveness from Junior's family.
"I don't share [your attorney's] optimism that you understand," Judge Fabrizio said.
At least two of the five men sentenced on Friday are foreign nationals. They face deportation when their prison terms end.