Bronx Man Who Fled To Posh Life In Mexico Faces 10 Years

Defendant Was Sentenced in Absentia for Assault Case; Taunted Prosecutor on Instagram

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a 25-year-old Bronx man who spent seven months as a fugitive living in luxury hotels and posting photos of himself on Instagram has been caught and returned to serve a 10-year prison sentence for a brutal assault.

District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant fled at the end of his trial and was convicted and sentenced in absentia. He cavalierly posted photos of himself with champagne, a Glock pistol, and driving a Lamborghini. He had even taunted the prosecutor. But he could not escape justice and now he will serve his sentence.”

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Ronald DeJesus Plaza, 25, of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., was arraigned today, July 25, 2016, before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Efrain Alvarado on a charge of first-degree Bail Jumping and his sentence was executed.

Plaza was sentenced on January 10, 2016 by Justice Alvarado to ten years in prison with five years of post-release supervision, after he was found guilty of first degree Assault on December 7, 2015 after a two week trial.

According to the trial, in the early morning hours of June 12^th, 2014, Plaza and another man attacked a stranger who had just emerged from a nightclub on Aqueduct Avenue in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx. Plaza broke the victim’s nose and slashed him numerous times while the other, unapprehended man stabbed the victim in the back. The victim’s injuries required nearly two dozen stitches and staples to his face and head.

Plaza, who was out on bail, failed to show up in court on December 4^th, 2015. The  jury began deliberations, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. That weekend Plaza posted on Instagram a photo of a bottle of rum with a message to Assistant District Attorney Karl Miller, who was prosecuting the case: “Salute Mr. Miller, this is a good rum.”

Plaza traveled a variety of locations including Mexico–where he stayed at beachside resorts– before being apprehended by U.S. Marshals when he got off a plane at LAX Airport in Los Angeles on June 22, 2016. Bronx District Attorney’s Detective Investigators John Might and Patrick Walsh brought Plaza to New York on July 9, 2016.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Karl Miller of the Gangs/Major Case Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Joseph Rivera of Trial Bureau 40.