Victim: 'I never knew a person could be so evil and uncaring.'
View full sizeAnthony Griffin, the accused mastermind of a violent Minoa home invasion and robbery, was sentenced to 60 years in state prison Wednesday.Syracuse, NY - A Mattydale man was sentenced today to more than 60 years in state prison for plotting a home-invasion robbery that he did not actually participate in carrying out last year.
"I never knew a person could be so evil and uncaring," the victim told Anthony M. Griffin in court, adding she and her 5-year-old daughter were looking forward to moving on with their lives.
The victim was sexually assaulted by two of the three intruders who forced their way into her Minoa home July 24, 2009. Assistant District Attorney Melinda McGunnigle said Griffin never planned to have the victim sexually assaulted, only to have her robbed and "roughed up" in retaliation for having him arrested on domestic violence and drug charges.
Griffin, 31, of East Molloy Road, said he loved the victim and her daughter and would never have done anything to hurt them. He denied having anything to do with ordering the home invasion that was carried out by the three other men.
But a County Court jury convicted Griffin July 28 of first-degree burglary, first- and second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree intimidating a victim or witness, endangering the welfare of a child, fourth-degree conspiracy, fourth-degree criminal solicitation, second- and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, third-degree menacing and second-degree criminal contempt.
Judge Anthony Aloi today imposed the maximum penalty of 25 years in prison for the burglary charge plus a consecutive 25 years for the first-degree robbery charge. The judge added 9 years for the drug charges plus 1 1/3 to four years for the conspiracy charge.
Aloi said Griffin had been suffering from a "dangerous, distorted, grandiose, gang-member" mentality that was destined to send him to prison for a long time.
The judge noted evidence at trial indicated Griffin was the leader of a gang called the GMF gang. The GMF stood for "Get Money Franchise" and the group tried to make money any legal or illegal way they could, primarily in drug trafficking, Aloi said.
The judge told Griffin the GMF actually should stand for "Gang Member Failure" based on the history of the defendant and his crew.
"All your gang members have now failed," the judge said.
Aloi told Griffin he was just as responsible for what happened as the defendants who actually carried out the break-in and assault on the victim. Authorities said the victim was sexually assaulted in front of her young daughter.
McGunnigle said Griffin's criminal conduct did not end with the violent home invasion incident. The prosecution had evidence at trial that Griffin worked from the jail to try and keep witnesses from testifying against him and to line up other witnesses to falsely testify on his behalf.
Defense lawyer Tylyn Bozeman dismissed the prosecution case as "circumstantial" and asked the judge to reject the prosecutor's request for maximum consecutive penalties. Griffin had turned down a pre-trial offer to dispose of all the charges with a single 25-year sentence.
"For him, this is a nightmare. He has suffered," Bozeman said of her client.
After Griffin proclaimed his love for the victim and his innocence, he had Bozeman read a letter to the judge in which he appeared to be blaming what happened at the Minoa home on a falling-out he had with a former business associate who was involved in the home invasion.
McGunnigle, however, has contended from the beginning that Griffin recruited that friend, Jayson Kelley, to commit the break-in and Kelley recruited two others, Justin White and Darron Phillips, to help carry out the crime.
Kelley, 26, is serving 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery. Phillips, 25, is serving 25 years in prison for first-degree burglary and first-degree rape. White, 25, is serving 22 years in prison for first-degree burglary and first-degree criminal sexual act.
Aimee Burton, 19, was sentenced last month to five years' probation and about seven months of jail time already served for acting as a lookout during the home invasion.
After court today, McGunnigle said she was satisfied with the lengthy prison sentence Aloi imposed. Bozeman said Griffin was looking forward to appealing the sentence and conviction.
Before the sentence was imposed, Griffin pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in an unrelated drug case that had also been pending. He was sentenced to time served for that matter.