NJ man gets 10 years for drug shooting

A New Jersey man was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison Wednesday for shooting a fellow drug dealer in the stomach during a violent episode in downtown Springfield last June.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150618/NEWS02/706189871

NJ man gets 10 years for drug shooting By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | June 18,2015 Valley News photo Leon Jiggetts WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A New Jersey man was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison Wednesday for shooting a fellow drug dealer in the stomach during a violent episode in downtown Springfield last June. Leon Jiggetts, 27, who was living part time in Brattleboro at the time of the June 11 incident on Summer Hill Street, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault. He was originally charged with attempted second-degree murder for shooting Joseph “Black” Atkinson, 19, who lived in the Springfield apartment, and had recently moved to town from New Jersey. The shooting was over stolen heroin, according to statements made in court Wednesday before Judge Theresa DiMauro. DiMauro accepted the terms of the plea agreement reached by Windsor County State’s Attorney Michael Kainen and Jiggetts’ lawyer, Dan Maguire. There was an unusual personal involvement by the defendant, who wrote letters to Kainen and another judge on his case asking for a second chance. Under terms of the agreement, Jiggetts will remain on probation for seven years after the 10-year sentence. The shooting in downtown Springfield was the second drug- and gang-related shooting in town. It prompted the creation of Project ACTION, a community group that is working to counter the illegal drug trade in more creative ways. The victim, Atkinson, recovered from his shooting injuries, but charges of possession of heroin are still pending, Kainen said. The prosecutor also said he wrote to Atkinson in New Jersey and asked him if he opposed the proposed sentence, but didn’t get a response. Jiggetts is trying to turn his life around and wants to learn one of the building trades while he serves his sentence in the Newport state prison, Kainen said. Jiggetts had personally written letters to both Kainen and the former judge on the case earlier this year, asking for a second chance to turn his life around and get out of jail in order to have some influence over his son and keep him from a life of crime. Kainen, who told the judge he had a “pretty good BS meter,” said he was impressed by Jiggetts’ sincerity in wanting to change his life and be a positive influence on his young son. The prosecutor said that in a series of letters, Jiggetts took responsibility for the shooting and home invasion, which sent three people to the hospital. Two other juveniles were involved, as well as another New Jersey man, Jabbar Chandler, of Charlestown, N.H., and Newark, N.J. Chandler received a seven-year sentence for his role in the incident. Chandler’s brother, Terrick Craft, 30, was involved in a July 2012 shooting in downtown Springfield. Craft is currently serving eight to 15 years. No one was hurt in that shooting. In court Wednesday, Jiggetts, who was wearing white pants and a white T-shirt, answered questions posed by the judge with a simple “yes, your honor” and pleaded guilty to shooting Atkinson and selling drugs to a confidential informant in an earlier drug deal in Brattleboro. Charges of obstruction of justice related to the Springfield shooting — over a letter that Jiggetts tried to send to co-defendant Chandler while they were both at the state prison in Springfield — were dropped, as well as charges of being a habitual offender. Jiggetts, who was raised by his grandmother after his mother died, has a lengthy criminal record in New Jersey. Kainen said an arrest warrant is pending against Atkinson, but that he was satisfied that he was staying in New Jersey. The prosecutor said he had no intention of filing extradition papers against Atkinson. Kainen said after the court hearing that he reduced the charges because there was no evidence that Jiggetts intended to kill Atkinson. He also said that, because the shooting was between convicted drug dealers, the sentence was less than if Jiggetts had shot a “purely innocent” person. He also agreed to a slightly shorter sentence, he said, in an effort to save the state money. An additional five years in prison would cost the state $250,000, he said, with limited benefit. “I don’t see the benefit. He’ll be out and on probation,” the prosecutor said. “It’s a whole lot different than a home invasion,” Kainen said. The county prosecutor said he had discussed the potential resolution of the case with people in Springfield. And while illegal drugs remain a problem in Springfield and many other Vermont towns, Kainen said the major players in the so-called “Jersey Boys” group of drug dealers that had moved into Springfield were now behind bars or had left town. “At the very least, that connection is a bit broken,” he said.