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| 2 prisoners sentenced for plotting escape |
| By The Journal News |
| Published: 06/13/2005 |
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A Sing Sing (N.Y.) inmate convicted of masterminding an elaborate escape plot for himself and another prisoner was sentenced last week to an additional 12 1/2 to 25 years in state prison. Nicholas Zimmerman insisted he was framed and would fight his conviction. But Westchester County Judge Robert DiBella chastised him, saying it was the latest attempt by Zimmerman to shift blame for his criminal activity to others. Zimmerman and Steven Finley were convicted in April after a lengthy trial that featured testimony about how Zimmerman got several associates - including two girlfriends and a female correction officer he befriended - to smuggle cell phones, fake officer uniforms, a pair of handguns and pepper spray into the prison two years ago during three failed attempts to bust the pair out. DiBella gave Finley an additional six to 12 years on top of the 20-year term he was already serving for attempted murder. Both men were found guilty of first-degree attempted escape and fourth-degree conspiracy. Zimmerman also was convicted of first-degree promoting prison contraband and bribery. The plot was hatched in 2002. Zimmerman communicated with his girlfriends and the men they recruited via a telephone that Correction Officer Quangtrice Wilson smuggled into the prison. Wilson pleaded guilty to her role last year and was sentenced to one to three years in prison. The other conspirators were given light sentences after testifying against the inmates. Three times in April and May 2003, the conspirators went to Sing Sing dressed as correction officers and tried to smuggle guns and uniforms to the two inmates. The first time, one of the girlfriends, Jetanya Belnavis, made it to the second floor with guns in the bag but got cold feet and left. The second time, May 6, they arrived too late to take advantage of the shift change that would have allowed the inmates to walk out dressed as guards. The following day, the plot unraveled when prison officials grew suspicious of a man claiming to be a transferred correction officer who had a fake badge and a bag containing pepper spray and uniform pants that were not standard issue. The man, Tony Dubose, was one of the conspirators. He managed to leave before he was questioned further, but an alert Ossining police officer had gotten his name that morning when he questioned him about a motorcycle Dubose had parked as a getaway vehicle near the prison. Zimmerman, a rapper known as Puzz Pacino, insisted he had no involvement in the plot and had no reason to because he was confident that an appeal of the weapon conviction that landed him in prison for 15 years would be successful. But prosecutors Robert Neary and Amy Puerto asked for maximum, consecutive sentences for both men yesterday, saying they should not get a break just because the escape plan failed. |
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