Jun 4, 2019 4 min read

Although Keith Anthony Rosario’s mother and sister traveled from New York City to beseech a Washington County judge to be merciful to their family member, Rosario faces a sentence of 35 ½ to 90 years’ imprisonment.

Rosario’s sister, Kattiria Rosario-Gonzales, of the Bronx, N.Y., echoed the sentiments of her mother Monday afternoon when she told Judge Valarie Costanzo her brother – who was convicted of kidnapping and beating another man in the West End and then shooting him during a botched execution – “is not a monster, not a terrible person.”

Ada Rivera, a nursing attendant for 20 years, wept as she told of her son, 28, a father of three, who was a straight-A student.

“He’s always been there for me,” she said before forsaking the courtroom to regain her composure.

She returned, however, to hear Costanzo reject pleas for leniency and pronounce the lengthy sentence Deputy District Attorney Jason Walsh had sought.

Court-appointed Conflict Counsel Kimberly Furmanek, who said after the court proceeding Rosario will be appealing his conviction, referred in court to Marcus R. Stancik, 32, the intended victim of an execution Sept. 5, 2017, as someone who was able to walk to an ambulance, give a statement to investigators and be released from a hospital the next day.

“It is true Mr. Stancik survived being shot in the head at close range,” the judge confirmed. But she also told Rosario that Stancik carries a bullet in his head “as a lasting reminder of the atrocity.”

At the trial, prosecutors accused Rosario of beating and abducting Stancik from a West Washington street, holding him at gunpoint and driving him to Cove Road and the shore of a former reservoir before forcing him to his knees and shooting him in the base of his head.

When the gun jammed, Stancik was able to make his way to the water and a neighbor, hearing the gunshot, called 911 to summon police who happened to be nearby.

The kidnapping stemmed from the alleged theft of a firearm two days earlier. Stancik, who was homeless and drug addicted, denied taking the weapon, but after he failed to return from making a cocaine delivery, he was targeted.

Rosario’s co-defendant, Richard D. Lacks, 25, testified for the government during the trial. In exchange for his testimony, he received a sentence of four to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

Stancik did not attend the sentencing, but Stephanie Kennedy of the district attorney’s victim’s service office read into the record his brief statement.

When given an opportunity to address the court, Rosario began reading from a memorandum he had written.

“The Commonwealth has fabricated other charges to enhance my sentence,” he said, claiming the jury convicting him was prejudiced by evidence he believes should not have been introduced.

Walsh objected, saying Rosario’s right to speak at the proceeding was not a forum for him to litigate his promised appeal.

“I am a good person,” the defendant continued. “I have a kind heart and I am family-oriented.”

He did not take responsibility for the shooting, but said he has “remorse for my family, for my kids, for not being there for them….

“My record speaks for itself. I have no history of violence. The Commonwealth is biased toward me.”

Walsh pointed out Rosario was on parole when the kidnapping, aggravated assault and homicide attempt occurred, saying that previous incarceration did not serve as rehabilitation.

The deputy district attorney also said Rosario recruited a juvenile to aid him in committing the crimes and asked for a sentence of 40 to 80 years.

Furmanek said Rosario has been certified as an electrician, became a father at age 17 and has always made sure his children have adequate care.

She unsuccessfully argued for concurrent sentences.

Costanzo ordered Rosario be returned to the State Correctional Institution at Albion, Erie County, where he is serving a sentence for his parole violation on drug-dealing charges.

A charge of threatening to kill a Washington County jail corrections officer and his family April 26, 2018, is pending against Rosario, but Furmanek said she expects the prosecution to ask for dismissal of the terroristic threat charge in light of Costanzo’s sentence.