A man charged with attempted murder accepted a plea deal in County Court today that guarantees a 15-year prison term.
Jeremy R. "Boog" Armstrong, 27, faced a six-account indictment for the shooting of a victim on Jackson Street, Batavia, on Dec. 2. Today was his plea cut-off date and if the case had gone to trial and he was convicted, the maximum available sentence could have locked him away for 37 years.
Armstrong hesitated when first asked by Judge Charles Zambito if he was ready to agree to the terms of the plea. His attorney asked for a recess to confer with his client.
Because there was also a jury trial scheduled for the morning, the recess lasted two-and-half-hours while the attorneys in that case delivered their closing statements.
The plea deal satisfied two indictments, with the one that included the attempted murder charge being reduced to a lesser included offense under count two of attempted assault in the first degree. The second indictment included a count from a separate incident of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
When Zambito read the supporting circumstances for attempted assault, his attorney, Mark Foti, objected to "knowingly caused serious physical injury," and with the suggestion of District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, the language was changed to "intent to cause serious physical injury."
Again, Armstrong Hesitated, but after conferring with Foti entered his guilty plea.
He didn't hesitate when pleading guilty to the drug dealing charge.
Friedman said the agreement to nine years for criminal possession and the 15 years for attempted assault were "no more and no less," meaning Armstrong agreed to exactly that time in prison. The sentences would be served concurrently. His term of parole will be decided at the time of his sentence but will be between two-and-a-half and five years.
Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Oct. 6.
