http://www.vnews.com/news/17364679-95/he-wants-to-change-his-life
Prosecutor: Springfield, Vt., Gunman Has Chance to ‘Change His Life’
Leon Jiggetts listens during his change of plea hearing in Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction, Vt., on June 17, 2015. Next to him is his attorney Dan Maguire. Jiggetts pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and burglary. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck)
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Leon Jiggetts listens during his change of plea hearing in Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction, Vt., on June 17, 2015. Next to him is his attorney Dan Maguire. Jiggetts pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and burglary. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright © Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. By Amanda E. Newman Valley News Staff Writer Thursday, June 18, 2015 (Published in print: Thursday, June 18, 2015) Share on facebookShare on tumblrShare on twitterMore Sharing Services 1 White River Junction — The gunman who shot a man in Springfield, Vt., last June over a drug dispute has been sentenced to prison for a decade, a penalty that prosecutors said reflected a belief that Leon Jiggetts can be rehabilitated. Jiggetts, 27, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Windsor Superior Court to felony counts of aggravated assault and burglary . He also pleaded guilty to several drug charges stemming from a separate investigation. Police alleged that Jiggetts, of Newark, N.J., shot 19-year-old Joseph Atkinson in the stomach during a heroin dispute at a Springfield, Vt., apartment on June 11, 2014. “He has been reflective,” Windsor County State’s Attorney Michael Kainen said of Jiggetts. “He wants to change his life. ... He wants to get an education ... he has a young son — he doesn’t want him to end up living the life he’s led.” The guilty pleas were part of a plea agreement accepted by Judge Theresa DiMauro during a change of plea hearing Wednesday morning. DiMauro sentenced Jiggetts to 15 to 25 years in prison, all suspended, with 10 years to serve. He also was sentenced to 16 years of probation, seven of which he will serve upon his release. Jiggetts originally faced a second-degree attempted murder charge for his role in the shooting, but Kainen said in court Wednesday that it became “clear to me this was not attempted murder.” “He did not intend to kill Atkinson, but he did intend to assault him and take the heroin,” Kainen said. Kainen said he settled on a plea bargain of 10 years after evaluating the case and corresponding with Jiggetts. “It’s my belief that he wants to do better,” Kainen said of Jiggetts. “Anything less than 10 years would substantially minimize his conduct that day, and he needs to own this conduct.” In an address to the court, Jiggetts said he wanted to do just that. He offered an apology to his family and friends, as well as the state of Vermont. “I would like another chance in society,” Jiggetts told the judge. Dan Maguire, Jiggetts’ defense attorney, spoke to his client’s repentance, noting that Jiggetts has been “his own worst enemy and best advocate.” DiMauro agreed with the punishment, saying she felt the sentence pays Jiggetts’ debt to society and also gives him an opportunity to redeem himself. Jiggetts and Kainen shook hands before Jiggetts was escorted out of the courtroom following the sentencing. As part of the plea bargain, lesser charges pending against Jiggetts, including an obstruction charge filed after a prison officer intercepted a note wherein Jiggetts urged accomplice Jabbar Chandler to change his story, were dismissed. A charge based on Jiggetts’ habitual offender status — he has been convicted of several felonies in New Jersey — also was dropped. Jiggetts has been held at the Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury, Vt., but likely will be sent out of state to serve his sentence, Kainen said by phone Wednesday. Had he been convicted of the second-degree attempted murder charge, he could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison. Of the four men accused of having a hand in the incident, Jiggetts is the last to be sentenced. Chandler, 34, of Charlestown, pleaded guilty in March to a charge of unlawful trespass for breaking into the Summer Street apartment during the shooting and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison, suspended. He is serving his seven-year sentence in the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton, Vt. Seventeen-year-old Brandon Adams-Smith, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty in February to burglary and assault with a deadly weapon for hitting Atkinson with a baseball bat after he had been shot by Jiggetts. He was transferred to juvenile court as a youthful offender, where he will remain unless he violates his probation, Kainen said in a phone interview. If he does commit a violation, he will be transferred back to criminal court, where he will be subject to the full penalties of the charges to which he pleaded guilty, Kainen said. In November, Alex Jillson-Corbosiero, 19, admitted to accessory after the fact for retrieving a gun taken by the other three men during the break-in that was later discarded on a nearby street. Jillson-Corbosiero also supplied the .45-caliber pistol used to shoot Atkinson. He received a suspended sentence for his role in the crime.
If Jiggets wants to redeem himself, please do it in New Jersey. I don't believe a thing he has to say
ReplyDeleteYeah.. I'm not really interested in having my tax dollars going to educate and feed him while he's imprisoned here.
Delete"He has a young son . . ." So many criminals, when caught, plead consideration because they had children. The only consideration that should merit is whether to make sure they don't have any more.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet it must be to come to Vermont with a string of felony convictions, deal drugs, commit burglary, shoot a competitor with a .45 auto, and only get a ten year sentence! All Jiggets had to do when convicted was declare he wanted to change his life, knowing the Vermont judicial system would find any reason to excuse his criminal behavior, because he is black. Even the ten year sentence is not going to be served in full, and is an example of Vermont's reverse racism at its worst. It is also an open invitation to New England's criminals to come to Vermont, where narcotics trafficing, burglary and attempted murder are considered minor crimes, if you are black. Here we judge people by the color of their skin, not by the content of their character or what they have done. Suck it up Springfield, the mayhem has just begun!
ReplyDelete6/20/15 5:12PM, you say white criminals receive harsher treatment than black criminals in Vermont. Can you cite some statistics or other evidence of that situation, please? I'd like to become more aware of something like that.
ReplyDeleteWhite felons found in possession of a firearm get prosecuted for the offense, and if convicted, get a mandatory ten year sentence. Such was the case of a white felon convicted in Chittenden County circa 20 years ago, who upon conviction was sent to the maximum security prison in upstate New York. I remember the case because within a year he had been stabbed to death while in prison.
DeleteAlthough supposedly Jiggetts came to Vermont burdened with multiple felony convictions in New Jersey, the fact that he was in possession of a gun seems to have been ignored by the Windsor County States Attorney. Why? Have the facts been misreported, and he had no prior felony convictions?
Philip, you should compare the determination the State has shown in prosecuting Bolaski, the man who defended himself from a splitting maul swinging drug addict in Chester. At first, the prosecutor thought the homicide was justified. Then, under pressure from the dead drug addict's parents, he prosecuted the defendant and got a conviction. Bolaski was sentenced to 25-years-to-life. He wasn't dealing drugs. He hadn't committed burglary. He wasn't a felon, and he was white.