Man who shot councilman & kidnapped councilman's wife & mother-in-law now to be sentenced May 31 - WV News
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WV News) — Sentencing for the man who shot Clarksburg City Councilman James Malfregeot and kidnapped Malfregeot's wife and mother-in-law has been postponed from Thursday until 8 a.m. May 31.
Harrison Circuit Judge Thomas A. Bedell granted the motion of defense attorney Jason Wingfield for the postponement after Prosecutor Rachel Romano didn't object.
Wingfield said a forensic psychiatrist who's a key mitigation witness for defendant Antonio Dejesus wasn't available Thursday due to a commitment that arose with another matter in California.
Romano requested that Bedell set the matter as soon as practicable, citing the need for closure in the case while Malfregeot looked on from the gallery with Harrison County Victim Advocate John Madia.
Dejesus, 35, of Wilmington, Delaware, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of kidnapping, one count of unlawful assault with a firearm enhancement, and one count of use or presentation of a firearm during commission of a felony.
The plea agreement contains a provision limiting the court from going over 30 years on each of the kidnapping charges. Normally, those charges have a ceiling of life in prison. Romano also dismissed five other felony counts as part of the plea agreement.
Romano has said she will ask Bedell to impose the maximum available term of 73 years in prison, with first parole eligibility at around 20 years.
Wingfield is likely to request concurrent sentencing of 30 years in prison, with first parole eligibility in 7 1/2 years.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to take a full eight-hour day. Wingfield plans to present several witnesses. Dejesus also has a right to give a statement, if he wishes to do so. The victims also will be able to speak. Probation Officer Heidi Leaseburge also will be present to answer any questions about the presentence investigation.
During the plea hearing, Dejesus told the court he was in West Virginia to get his children, but when that fell through, he saw someone trying to shoot him (indicating he saw a laser beam on his chest), and then a shot was fired next to him. Dejesus said while fleeing from that, he came across two women (Malfregeot’s wife and mother-in-law) in a vehicle, so he got inside; when Malfregeot came out with a gun, Dejesus shot the councilman before he was spotted.
Dejesus acknowledged he then forced, at gunpoint, Malfregeot’s wife and mother-in-law to take him away from that area. Dejesus said he was using methamphetamine, Adderall and K2 at the time. He also said he has been diagnosed as bipolar, with depression.
Also during Thursday's hearing on the motion to continue, Bedell chastened Wingfield over not presenting a courtesy copy of the motion to continue to the court, and for not filing the sentencing memorandum with the Harrison County Circuit Clerk's Office and the court by the deadline of April 22.
The 30-year judge, usually amiable on the bench, adopted a stern tone that still was several levels down from the top-level remonstrations he's levied against attorneys in some cases.
Wingfield is from Monongalia County.
source: https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/man-who-shot-councilman-kidnapped-councilmans-wife-mother-in-law-now-to-be-sentenced-may/article_145f2350-c6f5-11ec-8ef7-cb4702e73146.html
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