Gang member gets prison after he admits opening fire in the Forest Hills T station and hitting two bystanders
Reginald Price, 19, of Jamaica Plain, acknowledged today he shot two women who happened to be in the way of the bullets he meant for a member of a rival gang at the Forest Hills station in January, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp sentenced him to seven years after he pleaded guilty to three counts of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts each of assault by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery by discharging a firearm and single counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition for the Jan. 26 incident, the DA's office reports.
Prosecutors had asked for 10 to 15 years in prison.
Had the case proceeded to trial, [Assistant DA Benjamin] Megrian would have presented evidence and testimony to prove that Price became involved in a verbal dispute with another male at the Forest Hills MBTA station at approximately 1:45 p.m. that afternoon. Price left the station but soon returned with an associate and again engaged in conversation with the person he had previously argued with. That individual, an alleged gang rival, was soon joined by two other males, the evidence would have shown.
The three males followed Price and his associate until Price produced a Sig Sauer P239 .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol and opened fire. He missed each of his intended targets and instead struck two women who were inside the crowded station, the evidence showed.
One victim, a 24-year-old woman, was grazed in the head, and the other, a 62-year-old woman, was struck in the abdomen.
Both of the victims submitted victim-witness statements. The younger woman read hers in court:
I lost my sense of safety, my feeling of comfort in my own home, my sense of security when leaving my home to go to school, work, or anywhere else, as the MBTA was my primary mode of transportation at the time of the shooting. I have confronted feelings of deep anxiety, fearing that I will be hurt again or that family members or loved ones will also be the victims of undeserving and unprovoked gun violence. I hope that whatever time he serves will center around serving others, improving the community, learning about alternatives to violence, reflecting on how to help, rather than hurt, those around him.
And the older woman wrote:
The wounds and internal injuries to multiple organs have left my body weak and unable to perform many daily chores and activities. I can't even walk for more than a short distance before feeling short of breath and need to stop. It has also affected me mentally. I cannot focus and my mind is not the same as before. The anxiety and the depression make living life very difficult and at times feel like I've lost the will to live.
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Comments
It doesn't say how long of a
It doesn't say how long of a sentence he received.
Seven years
Sorry about that; I've added that to the post.
Travesty
Only 7 years for:
three counts of armed assault with intent to murder
two counts assault by means of a dangerous weapon
two counts assault and battery by discharging a firearm
single counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60
unlawful possession of a firearm
unlawful possession of ammunition
I'll feel real safe when he gets early release in 5 years for good behavior.
But Massachusetts is tough on criminals and guns. JOKE
Yup, he plead out. This
Yup, he plead out. This happens a lot in criminal cases, pretty much the majority of them from my experience. If he went to trial and was found guilty he would have likely received a longer sentence.
The saddest part was that the way this reads is he was charged with about 10 charges total. Each of them carries their own sentence, right? A seven year sentence amounts to less than most of these charges minimum mandatories carries when you add them together. Oh well
Anything for a guilty file.
Yes A Big Problem........Swallowing the gun charge(s)
A large majority of cases nationwide are plea bargained.
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2014/10/05/exclusive-violence-r...
But we need more gun control,
But we need more gun control, clearly that is the solution! /s
How about throwing away the key to the cells of scumbag thugs like this?
Our gun control works pretty well, actually
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-where-americans-are-most-likely-to-...
Seems like the strictest states have the lowest gun death rates. Amazing how that works.
So he will be 26 when he gets
So he will be 26 when he gets out, plenty of time to get right back in the game.
Awesome.
That's all?!
That's all?!
Same Judge?
Is this the same judge who gave the Roggie's guy probation for destroying evidence and witness tampering?
Seriously?
5-15 for a post ban mag in MA, 7 for shooting 2 innocents?
The impact
of gun violence goes on for years.
The gun didn't behave
The gun didn't behave violently. Where you had the word 'gun,' please insert the appropriate noun.
I call semantics BS
Gun is the adjective. Violence is the noun. Note that we also say "car crash". But if you insist we can start calling it "gun-owner violence".
7 years...unreal
shooting wildly in a crowded T station and hitting two innocent people- seven years. sickening.
possessing an illegal firearm can get you up to 5 years alone. what a joke
Ooh, ooh! I know! Pick me!
Let's pile even more laws against shooting into crowds on the books. Make 'em all-encompassing. Make it illegal to make a gun hand-gesture, with double the penalty and a ten thousand dollar fine for holding it sideways, gangsta-style! Slap a 20-year minimum on anyone carrying a big conspicuous plastic super soaker in public! Gotta give those beleaguered prosecutors every handhold you can think of to put these guys away.
That'll solve the problem.
WTF?
Forgot the sarcasm tags
My point is that politicians grandstanding about going after "guns" or "gangs" or amping up "community policing," for that matter, doesn't amount to anything without zealous and relentless apprehension, prosecution, conviction, incarceration, and if you're on my side of the aisle, the occasional execution, of the real bad actors, using mostly laws that are already on the books.
Prosecutors making public examples out of the most egregious cases is the stick that has to go along with whatever the carrot is. Unloading a firearm into a crowd of people *on purpose* while *aiming at* one of them is a special kind of sub-human disregard for life that should be punished accordingly.
Alotta "Thumbs Up"
for simply writing "WTF?".
I love it.
My question to the peanut gallery is this
The prosecutor asked for 10 years. Would the extra 3 years have made you happy?
I suspect that when a woman's
I suspect that when a woman's internal organs are rearranged by a high- velocity piece of metal, most of us would imagine that there would be a higher penalty than 7 years.
So
The penalty for rearranging a person's internal organs with a bullet should be 10 years, or maybe 15, but a minimum of 10.
Attempt to murder should be
Attempt to murder should be penalized for a much longer period of time than possession of a standard capacity magazine (which carries a 5-15 year penalty). Start at 30 years and work up.
Why is it common sense to jail someone for 15 years for posession of an object with no intent to harm someone and no victim but reasonable to jail someone for only 7 for shooting 2 people in the middle of a gang fight?
Blame the game, not the player then
The prosecutors asked for 10 to 15, meaning 10 years was an acceptable punishment. People are blaming the judge and whatnot, but the Commonwealth asked for basically a slap on the wrist (not in my eyes, since 7 years is a long time, the equivalent of undergrad and law school) compared to your 30 year minimum.
Of course, when people start complaining about prison overcrowding, I'll remember that 30 years should be the floor for attempted murder.
Not long enough!
Insane.
"The prosecutors asked for 10
"The prosecutors asked for 10 to 15, meaning 10 years was an acceptable punishment"
No it just means we need new prosecutors.
Crowded prisons due to a high population of non violent offenders and letting people walk early on attempted murder are two wildly different things. If our jails are overcrowded with people convicted of attempted murder I am ok with it.
Oh come on.
You clearly do not understand how this works. You believe that a prosecutor, knowing a judge is likely to give a defendant 7 years for this case, should ask for what? 30 years?
The actual recommendation for sentencing is a complicated issue, which involves a lot of thought with respect to the specific defendant, judge, victims, police officers involved, etc. A prosecutor who asked for say over 20 years would have soundly been ignored by this judge on this case and potentially future cases as well.
Also, I am better than you at your job and know more than you do about how you should be doing it. Just FYI.
Let Me Google That For You
Ok, so what is the penalty for attempted murder?
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter265/Sect...
And what is the penalty for possessing a standard capacity magazine? It doesn't appear that there is one at all! As for ammunition, well...
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter269/Sect...
So it looks like attempt to murder is penalized for a much longer period of time than possession of a standard capacity magazine. I bet you are happy!
He was convicted of 2 counts.
He was convicted of 2 counts. Clearly we need to increase the penalty for attemped murder if simple possession of an object can earn you a similar penalty to such a serious crime. How depraved is that?
Wrong on the penalty for magazines. So you actually believe such a penalty for a victim less crime is reasonable while the penalty prosecutors will pursue for attempted murder and shooting two innocent people is less than the max potential of one with no victim?
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXX/Chapter140/Sect...
Section 131M. No person shall sell, offer for sale, transfer or possess an assault weapon or a large capacity feeding device that was not otherwise lawfully possessed on September 13, 1994. Whoever not being licensed under the provisions of section 122 violates the provisions of this section shall be punished, for a first offense, by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and for a second offense, by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $15,000 or by imprisonment for not less than five years nor more than 15 years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
What are you talking about?
That's the statute for a large-capacity magazine, and the sentence you're citing is for possession as a 2nd offense. As far as we can tell, the kid in this case wasn't charged with either of those, so it's totally irrelevant to anything.
You literally said attempted murder should carry a longer sentence than carrying a standard magazine, and it was literally shown to you that the sentence for attempted murder is 10 times longer. And in response you start frothing about 2nd/sub large-cap mags like they have anything to do with anything.
You don't actually care about any of this at all. You just want to carry a lot of bullets in your gun. News flash: no one is going to stop you unless you do it illegally.
2 standard cap magazines in
2 standard cap magazines in your possession/ownership= 2 offenses.
The penalty for a victim less crime is not relevant to the penalty for a crime where two innocents are shot?
So we should not consider penalties relevant to one another when deciding jail time?
Should we not consider victim impact?
yes
yes
Did both victims sue the MBTA?
Their statements read that way.
He got off easy
He got off easy
How can the judge just give
How can the judge just give less than what the prosecutor asked?
This kid should be thrown away for life, what a piece of garbage. There's no fixing that level of callousness and sociopathy. Out in 7 years to shoot more people. Remove him from society permanently along with all his other gang trash.
Let me rephrase your question
How can the judge give more than the defense attorney recommends?
The answer is that the judge acts as an independent arbiter in cases. He or she is not bound to what the Commonwealth wants.
Are you saying an independent judiciary is bad? Should we just not have judges and let the prosecutors decide the fates of the accused? Or better yet, round up a posse of UHub commenters and administer frontier justice?
"Thrown away for life?"...In
"Thrown away for life?"...In Massachusetts??...ROFL LOL LOL!!!!! (Reminder: the scumball who murdered a Boston Police Officer (Tommy Rose) had already been previously convicted of cold-blooded murder (of a woman working as a cashier at a bakery), was released, then killed Officer Rose....THEN WAS RELEASED AGAIN, even after murdering a POLICE OFFICER.....and when he was released again? Care to guess what he did?.... he (insert drumroll sound here....rimshot!) attempted to kill a Rhode Island Police Officer by running him down with a car.
But the nitwit liberals still "feel safe" here in GUN CONTROLLED PukeAChusetts....??
This is Justice brought to you by DA Dan Conley
This joke of a sentence, 7 years, shows how much value DA Dan Conley has for US, the regular folks. When we the innocents are shot down carelessly by gang bangers WE should take priority. Here, We have 2 regular innocent folks, in a public transit facility, going to work and are shot by a person who committed about 10 different criminal acts calling for about 150 years in prison maximuum and they negotiate a 7 year sentence????? Conley has been around too long, time for a change! The ADA who made this deal should be FIRED.
Try reading the post again
Dan Conley's office asked for 10 to 15 years as part of a plea deal. There's no requirement a judge go along with that, and in this case, the judge didn't. You may still think 10-15 is too low, but at least start your argument with the facts.
Are you disputing his claimed
Are you disputing his claimed max penalty?
Where was he loose with facts? Being able to plead out shooting two innocents is outrageous.
I don't want to speak for Adam, but
Joey said
Yes, Joey didn't bold the word, but I think if he is claiming the DA's office said 7 years is okay, that would be a claim at odds with the truth.
You don't think 7 years is okay, and that is your opinion, and you can offer points to support your opinion, but the fact is the DA's office did not negotiate a 7 year sentence.
The DA dealing in any way
The DA dealing in any way that allows him to get off so easily is preposterous, should have gone to trial.
I thought MA was tough on gun crime? lol
OMG
You have a right to plead guilty at any time, just like you have a right to a trial. The DA has no right to say "you must go to trial" any more than he has a right to say "you must plead guilty."
It's not a "deal" when the prosecutor asks for one sentence, the defense asks for another, and the judge imposes something in between.
You really aren't doing much to raise the perception of gun nuts as single-minded and fact-aversive.
I read this as plea deal, not
I read this as plea deal, not plead guilty. Two very different things obviously. My bad. Upon further research he plead guilty he did not take a plea deal.
Nice name calling. It sure helps in reasoned discourse.
The fact that someone can get 7 years for intentionally shooting someone and 5-15 for a 'crime' with no victim is depraved. That much is unchanged.
2 years for each count of attempted murder? Talk about insanity.
Why was a 10-15 'deal' on the
Why was a 10-15 'deal' on the table? This guy should have gone away for the better part of his life at trial. How Hell are these 'deals' in the interest of the public safety?
Heaven forbid Conley have to do his job at trial.
Not a deal
He pled guilty, DA Conley asked for 10 to 15, the judge said 7.
This was not a plea deal. The defendant pled guilty. Not understanding how this works does not help your "case" here.
FIRED
OK, Donald.
I wish they spent more
I wish they spent more resources in the community giving opportunities to work or provide safe spaces for kids to be kids so they would know each other for more than just being in a rival gang. I'd like to see more of a push to offer solutions that we could implement before there is a need to throw a kid away in prison.
Almost poetic, my CAPTCHA is "WEPT"
This kid either lacks a
This kid either lacks a conscience and thinks murdering any amount of people is just fine, or lacks a brain and thinks he's able to make two precise shots in a crowded public area without unintended consequences. Neither of those gets fixed by community resources -- and it takes away from the kids growing up in that environment that are trying to do right and keep their heads down to succeed. More resources won't do anything if nobody will do triage assessment and stop wasting them on worthless cases.
Tough With A Gun? AKA Thug Dog
Thug Dog
You ain’t nothing but a Thug Dog, shootin hidin all the time
You ain’t nothing but a Thug Dog, scheming and hustling all the time
When 5-0 gets you, you gonna be doin time.
So You think you’re a badass, with your big mouth and your guns
So You think you’re a badass, doin drive bys then on the run
A bullet may get you then your Thuggin days will be done
I'm Afraid and Angry as Hell!
http://www.facebook.com/StopGunViolenceIllegalOwnershipUseWeaponsMA/
Reggie Price
I used to tutor Reggie Price, he was one of my favorite students. I still can't believe this is what he chose to do with his life. He just never seemed like the type! He was incredibly bright, charming, and had a great sense of humor. I'm so saddened by this :( Hopefully when he gets out he'll be able to get it together and become a law abiding citizen.