A suspect in connection with a drug-induced robbery scheme that led to the deaths of two gay men in New York City last year pleaded guilty to robbery, grand larceny and identity theft charges on Monday, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the charges against Eddie Ashley, 30, are connected to four incidents that were part of a citywide scheme that afflicted at least 16 victims between September 2021 and August 2022 and led to the deaths of 25-year-old social worker Julio Ramirez and 34-year-old political consultant John Umberger.
Ashley, who was arraigned for the crimes separately, at different times throughout last and this year, had originally pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Monday, he changed his plea to guilty.
“Everyone should be safe when they go out and experience Manhattan’s vibrant nightlife, and this multi-year prison sentence makes clear we will not tolerate this type of dangerous conduct,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
Ashley’s attorney, Terrence J. Grifferty, confirmed his client’s guilty plea and said Ashley is expected to be sentenced to nine years in state prison on Nov. 20. Grifferty added that Ashley is currently being held in New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex but declined to comment further.
“I’m grateful for his willingness to admit his guilt and have some consequences for that,” Linda Clary, Umberger’s mother, said. “We can only hope for justice for the rest involved.”
Five other men — Jayqwan Hamilton, Robert Demaio, Jacob Barroso, Andre Butts and Shane Hoskins — were charged and arrested in connection with the same crime scheme. The charges for the first three include murder.
Prosecutors alleged the suspects drugged their victims, used their incapacitated faces to unlock their cellphones using facial recognition technology and then robbed them.
All five have pleaded not guilty to all charges, and are currently in police custody awaiting trial.
In a separate yet similar case, in June prosecutors indicted Kenwood Allen and Sean Shirley, alleging the men were involved in a drugging, robbery and larceny spree in New York City that totaled 21 victims and led to the deaths of five people between March and December 2022. Allen was initially indicted in December for two of the murders.
Allen and Shirley have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The deceased victims in connection with the second crime ring include Sadath Ahmed, Ardijan Berisha, Katie Gallagher, Alexander Rudnitsky and Nurbo Shera, according to a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Gallagher, 35, was a fashion designer whose creations had been worn by celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Laverne Cox.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
