NY Teen Gets Maximum for Hate Crime Killing

[sabra]

Source: CBS News/AP

19-Year-Old Jeffrey Conroy Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Killing Ecuadorean Immigrant Marcelo Lucero

(CBS/ AP) A New York teenager has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in the hate crime killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant.

Nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Conroy got the maximum sentence Wednesday. The Suffolk County Court judge said "the proof was overwhelming."

...

At trial, prosecutors said Conroy and others allegedly went on a hunt to beat up Hispanics.

Prosecutors said Conroy delivered the fatal blow to Marcelo Lucero near the Patchogue train station.

Conroy told Newsday in the April 25 edition that he felt sorry for Lucero's family. "I wish he wasn't dead," he said.

He also has a swastika tattoo, but says he is "not a white supremacist," but that he got the tattoo on a dare.

After the sentence was imposed, Conroy's father, Robert Conroy, shouted an expletive, saying his son was only 17 at the time of the attack.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/26/national/main6521160.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.2

[aquart]

1. He earned it.

Foolishly, he failed to incorporate first.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. "She was just 17, if you know what I mean..."

[charlesg]

3. Good luck with the Mexican Mafia

Idiot.

[gratuitous]

4. Swastika tattoo, killed an immigrant

But he's not a racist, so stop saying that.

At least his dad's mad about . . . the sentence his beautiful boy received.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Am I the only one annoyed the sentence needed a hate-crime boost to GET to 25 years? -nt

[Soylent Brice]

6. no, you're not. n/t

[Matariki]

8. No. I didn't understand that at all.

Isn't murder punished with a life sentence?

[closeupready]

11. New York is actually a capital punishment state.

Not sure why this wasn't considered first degree.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. Not anymore, it isn't.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/nyregion/4-3-ruling-effectively-halts-death-penalty-in-new-york.html :thumbsup:

[closeupready]

15. Ah, excellent - I was not aware of this.

:)

[superconnected]

7. The guy was stabbed to death, sad the other 7 weren't held responsible.

"Conroy was convicted last month of first degree manslaughter as a hate crime and other crimes in the November 2008 stabbing death of Marcelo Lucero on Long Island.

Conroy was one of seven teenagers implicated in the killing but the only one to go to trial."

[donco6]

9. Good riddance. n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

10. Frankly a 17 year old holding a knife kills the same way as a 30 year old with a knife

Yes at some point there is a gray area where a 11 year old kills someone, you have to ask did they reason & know what they were doing, etc - but each case has to be handled individually and I commend them for judging in this case, the perpetrator knew enough of what he was doing - in adult terms - and deserves the adult consequences.

[PfcHammer]

13. Horale! Good luck in prison.

[alp227]

14. So I wonder how he'll live with himself aat age 44 as a convicted felon.

With the extensive coverage of this case, Conroy is branded racist for life. What can he do since most employers won't hire ex-felons much less murderers?

[ingac70]

16. He can be a keynote speaker at Teabagger events. n/t

[fujiyama]

17. .

[fascisthunter]

18. f*cking loser

[Heywood J]

19. The other six may not have gotten off.

Conroy was one of seven teenagers implicated in the killing but the only one to go to trial.

That could be read two ways.

1) The others could have closed ranks against him, turning on him enough that there wouldn't be enough evidence to convict them at trial. They were let go without being charged, or charges dropped.
2) The others have plead out and did not need to see trial.

I hope it's option two.

[grantcart]

20. Comparison of the parents reactions is instructive.

After the sentence was imposed, Conroy's father, Robert Conroy, shouted an expletive, saying his son was only 17 at the time of the attack.

The killing shone a national spotlight on race relations on Long Island.

After Conroy was convicted, Lucero's mother, Rosario Lucero, said through a translator that she had forgiven Conroy and would pray for him.