Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Man convicted in kidnapping, murder of Menachem Stark gets 15 years
One of the men convicted for his role in the fatally botched kidnapping of a notorious Brooklyn landlord wept in court Wednesday as he apologized to the victim’s family before he was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
“I wish I could turn back time so that none of this could have taken place,” Kendel Felix sobbed to the widow of Menachem Stark, who died after Felix and his cousin, Erskine Felix, tried to abduct him for ransom as he left his Williamsburg office in 2014. “Probably if I had not taken part, Mr. Stark would be alive with you and his kids.”
“This is something I have to live with for the rest of my life,” he said through tears as Bashie Stark and other family members looked on from the gallery.
The 32-year-old admitted to driving Stark’s body out to a dumpster in Great Neck, Long Island after the duo realized the landlord was dead. Prosecutors say he suffocated in the back seat of their van when someone sat on him.
Felix was convicted by a Brooklyn jury in 2016, but later agreed to cooperate against his cousin and the purported mastermind of the scheme, Erskine Felix.
Erskine Felix was convicted last month following testimony from Kendel Felix and another cousin, Irvine Henry, and is awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutor Howard Jackson told Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Danny Chun Wednesday that Kendel Felix had been an “exemplary” cooperator, and that the Brooklyn DA’s office would not object to Felix being released following his minimum sentence.
None of Stark’s family addressed Chun before he handed down the sentence of 15 years to life in prison, saying he found Felix to be genuinely “remorseful for his own actions.”
“I do hope that this defendant will have a chance to come out and lead a life that is productive and that he can rejoin his family at some point in the future and be productive in society,” Chun added.
Later Wednesday, Chun sentenced Henry to time-served for his own cooperation agreement with prosecutors, according to a spokesman with the Brooklyn DA’s office.
The courtroom was sealed for Henry’s case, though law enforcement sources told the Post that the Brooklyn man secretly pleaded guilty in March to a single charge of attempted tampering with physical evidence, and served around three months behind bars.
Stark’s family declined comment as they left court.
https://nypost.com/2019/05/01/man-convicted-in-kidnapping-murder-of-menachem-stark-gets-15-years/
“I wish I could turn back time so that none of this could have taken place,” Kendel Felix sobbed to the widow of Menachem Stark, who died after Felix and his cousin, Erskine Felix, tried to abduct him for ransom as he left his Williamsburg office in 2014. “Probably if I had not taken part, Mr. Stark would be alive with you and his kids.”
“This is something I have to live with for the rest of my life,” he said through tears as Bashie Stark and other family members looked on from the gallery.
The 32-year-old admitted to driving Stark’s body out to a dumpster in Great Neck, Long Island after the duo realized the landlord was dead. Prosecutors say he suffocated in the back seat of their van when someone sat on him.
Felix was convicted by a Brooklyn jury in 2016, but later agreed to cooperate against his cousin and the purported mastermind of the scheme, Erskine Felix.
Erskine Felix was convicted last month following testimony from Kendel Felix and another cousin, Irvine Henry, and is awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutor Howard Jackson told Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Danny Chun Wednesday that Kendel Felix had been an “exemplary” cooperator, and that the Brooklyn DA’s office would not object to Felix being released following his minimum sentence.
None of Stark’s family addressed Chun before he handed down the sentence of 15 years to life in prison, saying he found Felix to be genuinely “remorseful for his own actions.”
“I do hope that this defendant will have a chance to come out and lead a life that is productive and that he can rejoin his family at some point in the future and be productive in society,” Chun added.
Later Wednesday, Chun sentenced Henry to time-served for his own cooperation agreement with prosecutors, according to a spokesman with the Brooklyn DA’s office.
The courtroom was sealed for Henry’s case, though law enforcement sources told the Post that the Brooklyn man secretly pleaded guilty in March to a single charge of attempted tampering with physical evidence, and served around three months behind bars.
Stark’s family declined comment as they left court.
https://nypost.com/2019/05/01/man-convicted-in-kidnapping-murder-of-menachem-stark-gets-15-years/
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