GUILTY NY - NK & AE, both 21, Rochester, 5 Dec 2015

Rochester police are investigating whether the two University of Rochester football players abducted and beaten earlier this month were targeted as retribution for a drug-related robbery — a robbery neither student was involved in but was allegedly committed by a former teammate and fellow student.

In fact, according to sources close to the investigation, the two may have been kidnapped because of mistaken identity or, instead, simply because one of them — AOE — was friends with the former UR student now charged with the November robbery...

Following the robbery on Nov. 28, someone or a group of people, it is unclear who, set out to seek retaliation and identified E as a person who lived at the apartment. The sources say E was out of town when the robbery happened, but Smith had access to his apartment.

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A 32-count indictment unsealed Wednesday shows the "extreme torture" two male University of Rochester victims endured during a 40-hour ordeal in which six people allegedly abducted and tortured them inside a Rochester, New York house in December...

Lydell Strickland, 26, Dennis Perez, 23, and Leah Gigliotti, 20, all of Rochester, and Samantha Hughes, 19, of Pittsford, had already been charged with first-degree kidnapping. Inalia Rolldan, 19, and Ruth Lora, 19, both of Rochester, were charged with second-degree kidnapping.

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The nine people charged in connection with the abduction and assault of two University of Rochester students in December will go to trial in September and October, a judge ruled Monday.

About half of the defendants will begin trial Sept. 26; the other half will begin trial Oct. 31...

Defense lawyers interviewed outside the court said they consider the trial dates tentative, pending Renzi’s ruling on statements made by various defendants. The lawyers have requested their defendants be tried separately.

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As four defendants prepare for trial for their alleged roles in the kidnapping and torture of two University of Rochester students, another of their co-defendants pleaded guilty Wednesday in exchange for the promise of 35 years in prison.

Dennis Perez, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree kidnapping for his role in the Dec. 5 abduction of the students. As part of the plea agreement with prosecutors he will also be sentenced to five years post release supervision.

Perez and the other defendants who have accepted plea deals will be sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Alex R. Renzi on Nov. 23.

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Opening statements will be made Wednesday in the trial of four suspects accused in the kidnapping and assault of two University of Rochester students in December.

Lydell Strickland, David Alcaraz-Ubiles, Ruth Lora and Inalia Rolldan are being tried on several charges ranging from kidnapping to weapons possession.

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Prosecutors say each of the four defendants had differing roles in the alleged crime. Lydell Strickland, a parolee, is alleged to be one of the ringleaders.

Court papers accuse him of ganging up with two others to beat, rob and rape the football players. It was alleged they were lured to the location, thinking they would attend a house party.

Court papers allege Ruth Lora, who was 19 at the time, was left to guard and feed the hostages.

What is less clear are the alleged roles of the other two suspects, David Alcatraz Ubiles and Inalia Rolldan.

It is somewhat unusual that all four remaining defendants will be tried at the same time in one trial. That means each witness could potentially face cross-examination from more than one defense attorney.

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For two University of Rochester students, the weekend started with a promise — a Facebook contact from a young woman who wanted to meet one of the students and planned to bring a girlfriend along.

Instead, the students were duped into an abduction and 40 hours of brutality, as they were beaten, tortured and even shot.

"They thought they were going to continue a night out and meet up with some girls," Assistant District Attorney Christine Callanan said in her opening statement at the trial of four people Wednesday. " ... Little did they know, it was a trap. Little did they know, it was the beginning of the longest weekend of their lives."

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Defense lawyers Wednesday did not deny that the accused had been at the home, but said there would not be evidence of their involvement in the crimes.

Strickland faces more than two dozen criminal charges, including kidnapping, assault, gang assault, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. However, Kennedy said, the victims will not be able to say that they know Strickland was one of their abusers.

Prosecutors say the evidence to be presented over coming weeks will include forensic evidence, cellphone data and videos.

Alcaraz-Ubilies is accused of kidnapping, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Lora and Rolldan face kidnapping and criminal possession of a weapon charges.

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JusticeWillBeServed said:

UR students abducted, hurt, prosecutor says

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/11/02/abduction-trial-statements/93176804/





The trial is expected to last for a month. Both victims are expected to testify.

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The ambush was quick, the weapons everywhere.

First the room went dark, then masked men, clothed in black, burst into the littered living room at the Harvest Street house.

"At that point I got up, trying to run for the exit," NK, now 22, testified Thursday about the attack that precipitated the hours of torture he and classmate, AE, were subjected to over a December 2015 weekend.

NK was sitting on a couch when the attackers rushed into the room, armed, he said, with knives, baseball bats, pipes and guns. He tried to sprint to a door, and was shot in the leg.

He was shot in the other leg, and continually beaten with knives, bats, and even a chainsaw, he said. The assailants, who took the UR student's credit cards, ATM cards and telephone, seemed almost gleeful, according to the testimony.

"They put flammable liquids on us, saying they were going to light us on fire," he said.

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NK testified that he concluded his abductors were planning to keep him alive only until the banks opened on Monday morning and they could finish draining his accounts.

Throughout the weekend, NK said he could hear the sounds of numerous people coming and going from the house. At one point, NK said he heard men and women watching football games on television in an adjacent room.

"They were drinking and having a good time while there were people dying in the other room," he said.

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JusticeWillBeServed said:

Victim in UR abduction case describes torture

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/11/03/ur-victim-describes-harrowing-torture/93235308/

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