Bronx DA: Bronx Man Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison For Robbing Former Co-Worker While Victim Was Held Hostage, Beaten

BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ROBBING FORMER

CO-WORKER WHILE VICTIM WAS HELD HOSTAGE, BEATEN

Jury Found Defendant Guilty of Robbery and Grand Larceny

          Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for stealing his former co-worker’s bank card and withdrawing funds from various ATMs across the Bronx while the victim was held hostage.

        District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant stole his former co-worker’s money while the victim was being held against his will for four hours in a Bronx apartment. The victim was beaten and suffered a fractured jaw. The defendant now will spend time in prison for initiating this brutality for a couple of thousand dollars.”

         District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Kemar James, 31, of 1505 Townsend Avenue, was sentenced today to 11 years in prison and five years post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Alvin Yearwood. A jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree Robbery and fourth-degree Grand Larceny on July 16, 2019, following a two-week trial.

           According to the investigation, on December 20, 2017, the defendant invited the victim Omardon Slater, 33, to a party at 4034 Laconia Avenue. When Slater tried to leave, several of James’ friends dragged him into a bedroom and hit him in the face. The defendant, along with the others, took the victim’s car keys, cell phone and wallet, and demanded his debit card’s pin number. James then instructed his friends to keep Slater in the apartment and left with the victim’s bank card. Using various ATMs, the defendant withdrew $1,000 from Slater’s bank accounts. He then forced the victim to conduct a wire transfer of $900 from his account to another account.

       The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys John Marck, Melissa Fabi and Cassandra Papandrew, all of Trial Bureau 20, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Robert Ferrara and Jeffrey Kimelman, Supervisors in Trial Bureau 20, and Jennifer Cruz, Deputy Chief of Trial Bureau 20, and Meredith Holtzman, Chief of Trial Bureau 20, and the overall supervision of James Brennan, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, Chief of the Trial Division. District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Police Officer Hansel Rocha of the 47^th Precinct for his work on the case.