Ronell Wilson
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Ronell Wilson was convicted of the 2003 capital murder of two undercover NYC police officers in Staten Island, New York. His trial before Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York began on November 27, 2006. On December 20, he was found guilty of the capital murders as well as other related charges.[1] On January 30, 2007, Wilson was sentenced to death,[2] the first such sentence by a federal jury in New York since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988.[3]
Prosecutors alleged Wilson was the leader of a violent drug gang called the Stapleton Crew (witnesses at the trial denied using that label) that originated in the Stapleton housing projects of Staten Island. He was convicted for murdering NYPD Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews in a gun sale, then searching their bodies and stealing their car. Victim's family members and fellow police officers greeted pronouncement of his death sentence with cheers and applause, Wilson's reaction of sticking his tongue out in their direction [4]was denounced by the local tabloids. [5]
The case has attracted media attention, because of the brutality of the murders as well as the rarity of a death penalty prosecution in New York. Wilson is the first person federally sentenced to the death penalty in New York in over 50 years.[6] Wilson was originally charged in New York state court, but the federal government took over the prosecution after the New York Court of Appeals held that the state's death penalty statute violated the New York State Constitution.
