An Atlantic City man was sentenced on Friday to 35 years in a New Jersey state prison in connection to the shooting death of an innocent bystander caught in gunfire in Atlantic City’s Stanley Holmes Village in 2012, First Assistant Atlantic County Prosecutor Cary Shill announced.
Rodney Smiley was sentenced by Judge Bernard DeLury to an aggregate 35 years in a New Jersey state prison and 17 1⁄2 years must be served before Smiley is eligible for parole.
According police, on Sept. 6, 2012, Jose Ortiz, 59, of Stanley Holmes Village, Atlantic City, was riding his bicycle outside of his home when he was caught in the gunfire of multiple shooters.
Atlantic City police responded to the shooting scene and found Ortiz suffering from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. Ortiz was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center—City Campus, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.
A 16-month investigation conducted by Atlantic City Police and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, led to the authorization of charges on January 2, 2014 against Smiley of the 600 block of Michigan Ave., Atlantic City.
Detectives served the charges on Smiley the next day in New Jersey State prison, where Smiley was incarcerated on an unrelated matter.
At the defendant’s trial in December 2016, the State presented evidence showing that three individuals exited a vehicle at the corner of C. Morris Cain Place and Kentucky Avenue, firing as many as thirty shots across the playground at City Place in Stanley Holmes Village.
The shooters returned to the vehicle, which was later located by authorities outside of a home associated with the defendant. A search warrant of the vehicle led to the discovery of a handgun on which the defendant’s DNA was found.
The State alleged at trial that the defendant made admissions to a girlfriend that he was involved in the shooting, which was motivated by ongoing tensions between rival gang affiliations in the city. The defendant then threatened and assaulted the woman in an attempt to secure her silence.
The defendant was acquitted as to knowing and purposeful murder, but the jury could not reach a verdict as to lesser-included homicide counts as well as conspiracy to commit murder.
Smiley was convicted by the jury on charges of second-degree Unlawful Possession of a Handgun, second-degree Possession of a Handgun by a Convicted Person, and first-degree Witness Tampering. A first-degree Aggravated Manslaughter charge against Smiley is still pending.
At sentencing, the State
successfully argued for an extended term on the unlawful possession of a handgun count, for a minimum period of parole ineligibility for the witness-tampering conviction, and for the sentences to be served consecutively to each other.
The State further argued that a lengthy sentence was especially necessary on witness tampering, among other reasons, to deter the defendant and others due to the prevalence of “the threats, violence and intimidation” against witnesses that plague communities and hamper investigations.
Judge DeLury agreed, citing defendant’s “violently enforcing the ‘no snitch’ mentality” in levying sentence.
Assistant Prosecutor Rick McKelvey represented the state in the matter.