TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced
that a Camden man has pleaded guilty in
connection with an August 2008 shooting
investigated by the Camden Shoot Team.
According to Director Taylor,
Mark A. Young, 21, of Camden, pleaded guilty
yesterday afternoon to a second-degree charge
of aggravated assault before Superior Court
Judge Anthony Pugliese in Camden County.
The charge was contained in a Feb. 4, 2009
Camden County grand jury indictment obtained
by the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau. The case was
going to trial and jury selection had started
before Young entered his plea.
Judge Pugliese scheduled
sentencing for Young for April 23. Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Young be sentenced to five years in
state prison, including four years and three
months of parole ineligibility under the
No Early Release Act. Deputy Attorney General
Kristen Harberg prosecuted the case and
took the plea.
In pleading guilty, Young
admitted that he shot and wounded a man
whom he had known for years. The investigation
by the Camden Shoot Team revealed that on
Aug. 7, 2008, at approximately 12:20 a.m.,
the victim was sitting on the porch of a
friend's house in the 100 block of North
24th Street in Camden, when Young approached
him. The victim joked with Young and said
something that offended him, leading to
an angry exchange of words. Young drew a
handgun and shot the victim three times,
one round hitting the victim in the nose,
one round hitting his wrist, and the third
round going through the victim's calf. Young
then fled the scene.
The Shoot Team was immediately
dispatched to investigate the shooting.
The Shoot Team in Camden is made up of detectives
and investigators from the New Jersey State
Police, the Camden City Police Department
and the Camden County Prosecutor’s
Office.
Attorney General Dow credited
the investigators who conducted the investigation,
including Investigator Michael Dougherty
of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office,
who was lead detective; Sgt. John Polcyn
of the Camden Police Department; Detective
Carmello Villegas of the Camden Police Department;
and the following members of the New Jersey
State Police: Detective Sgt. Richard A.
Bumbera, Detective Sgt. Laurence P. Wachter,
Detective Daniel DeLucia, Detective Joseph
Loschiavo, and Detective Carlos Rodriguez.
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