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Who cares? He's a sex offender, drug dealer, and murderer why would anyone care about this guy?! I'm glad they put his picture on the paper, most likely he will move out of here.

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It's not that big a secret... you think his gang is going to see him walking around the neighborhood after confessing to murder, kidnapping, drug-dealing and burglary and think he got off for his good looks? Everyone will know why he's not locked up. I just want to know who his lawyer is in case I ever need a deck of get-out-of-jail-free cards too.

Mark.

huh... dead man walking.

What im curious is if he will become the next Jersey City murder victim since his picture, full name, and a picture of where he lives was posted in the Jersey Journal. I think it is not a good idea for the paper to print so much information on this story. Dont get me wrong he should be in prison for his crimes, but what if a innocent person catches a bullet that was meant for him? Wouldnt the Jersey Journal be responsible?

"We cannot condone someone taking on the role of judge, jury and executioner."

In that case....

But seriously! I guess this is where that "No Snitching" mantra comes in to play. This is totally disgusting. Because he is a good informer (which means he is involved one way or another in not-so-good behavior) he gets off the hook for murder! JC=Corruption

HE KILLS A MAN, TALKS AND WALKS
Charged with numerous serious crimes, he wiggles away with suspended sentences
Friday, October 17, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE and PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITERS

A Jersey City man who pleaded guilty to killing a man and to drug-dealing charges in Hudson County last year, and more recently to burglary and criminal restraint in Atlantic County, has spent only 11 days in jail. Why? Because, according to sources, 32-year-old Angel Santos is an informant, and apparently a very good one.

Santos was arrested on Feb. 24, 2003 in Jersey City and charged with murdering Euclides Acosta, 29, in the Heights with one shot to his head fired at close range in front of his home, officials said. Police said Santos suspected Acosta, a registered sex offender, was sexually abusing a relative.

At the time, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio was quoted in The Jersey Journal as saying, "We cannot condone someone taking on the role of judge, jury and executioner."

But, court records show, when the case went to the courts, prosecutors dropped most of the charges and Santos pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree crime that carries a sentence of five to 10 years. Officials also agreed to have him sentenced as if the killing were a third-degree crime with a range of only three to five years.

After getting all those breaks, on June 8, 2007, state Superior Court Judge Fred Theemling, sitting in Jersey City, sentenced Santos to three years in prison and then suspended the sentence, court papers say.


ANOTHER BREAK


Further, three weeks before the killing, Santos had been charged with drug possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and three related offenses, court papers show.

Prosecutors dropped all but the "1,000 feet charge" and, on the same day Santos was sentenced for manslaughter, Theemling sentenced him to three years on the drug charges and suspended that sentence, too.

In total, Santos has spent 11 days in the Hudson County jail after his arrests and before being bailed out. He has not served one day of his sentences for the crimes.

Reached by phone and asked about all the suspended sentences he received following guilty pleas to serious crimes, Santos said he had "no comment."

When asked the same question, DeFazio said: "There are law enforcement goals that we believe have to be accomplished. It's not a question of being happy with the result or not, as far as the sentencing goes. That's not what the measure should be."


NEIGHBORS UNAWARE

Interviewed by The Jersey Journal recently, a number of residents in Santos' Lexington Avenue neighborhood didn't seem to know his background.

"That's crazy," Ahmed Mohamed, who lives across the street from Santos, said when told of Santos' history. "That's some deep stuff."

A woman hanging laundry on her balcony said Santos is her upstairs neighbor. Asked if she knew he had pleaded guilty to killing a man, she said she didn't want to get involved.

Philip Phung, who lives two doors from Santos, said: "I would be very worried if a killer lived there . Everyone would be nervous."

According to Cathie Seidman, a criminal justice professor at Hudson County Community College, it is not necessarily unusual for a prosecutor to request a suspended sentence in return for information or testimony - as in some high-profile Mafia cases.

"The prosecutor has the most discretion in the criminal justice system," Seidman said. "Prosecutors often use the tool of making a deal with the defendant in order that the defendant promises to testify truthfully at the trial of another."

GOIN' TO COURT


The state Attorney General's Office has confirmed that Santos is scheduled to testify in an upcoming case, against a Jersey City bounty hunter, Adel Mikhaeil, who is charged along with two former county sheriff's officers and the commander of the county prosecutor's homicide squad in an alleged scam involving bail bonds.

Also, DeFazio said Santos testified in a murder case in which there was a conviction and he also gave a sworn statement in another murder case.

But DeFazio refused to discuss Santos' relationship with his office.

"There are law enforcement areas that I'm not going to discuss," DeFazio said. "These are difficult decisions that law enforcement is forced to make."


MORE CHARGES


In Santos' latest reported brush with the law, on Nov. 21, 2006, he was charged with kidnapping, criminal restraint, simple assault and burglary. Once again, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges and the judge suspended his two sentences, seven years for burglary and five years for criminal restraint.

According to Atlantic County officials, Santos was accused of going to the Pleasantville home of Gerardo Ortez, 20, saying he was trying to find Ortez's friend, Jose Correa, who allegedly skipped bail.

Santos and two others began searching the home illegally after Ortez's wife let them in, officials said. When Ortez arrived home, he was handcuffed, forced into the men's car, beaten and told to show them where Correa lived, officials said.

Prosecutors alleged that after pointing out Correa's Egg Harbor City home, Ortez was pushed out of the vehicle and told to walk home, and that when he got home, he called Correa, who said the men forced their way in and stole about $2,000.

In a recent interview with The Jersey Journal, Atlantic County Assistant Prosecutor Murray Talasnik said: "There are other persons (involved) who Santos has agreed to testify against. (Santos') full criminal history was known to us and the judge (when) this was negotiated."

Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Michael Donio didn't seem happy about the sentence, according to coverage by the Atlantic City Press.

"Because of your record, you could be looking at more than 20 years in state prison," Donio warned Santos at his sentencing, according to the Press. "Basically, you better keep to the straight and narrow."