Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
A 25-year-old Trenton man who was in the United State illegally was sentenced Friday for a fatal attack that happened on the Falls Township and Morrisville border.
Erick Sarceno, 25, was sentenced to seven to 20 years in state prison for standing by as Juan Antonio Villeda, 35, of Trenton, beat 38-year-old Jeronimo Villatoro to death.
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Sarceno pleaded guilty in fall to voluntary manslaughter, possession of an instrument of crime, and concealing evidence in connection with the October 19, 2014 murder that happened along West Post Avenue. The plea came with the agreement that Sarceno would testify against Villeda, his mother’s boyfriend, at trial last year.
“This was a brutal and violent murder,” Bucks County Judge Rea B. Boylan said during Sarceno’s sentencing. “I have never seen more damage done to the head of a human being.”
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Deputy District Attorney Robert James said Villatoro would “still be alive today” if it weren’t for Sarceno’s involvement.
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Sarceno, who has no previous criminal history, said through an interpreter that he was at the crime scene but had no idea Villeda was going to kill Villatoro.
Sarceno was allegedly intimidated by Villeda and that is why he lied to investigators initially, defense attorney Niels Eriksen said. He added that the 25 year old worked hard and sent money he earned back to his siblings in Guatemala.
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The killing happened after a night of drinking at a speakeasy in Trenton. The men drove from Trenton to West Post Avenue on the Falls and Morrisville border in a van. Villeda and Villatoro got into an argument at the end of West Post Avenue. Around that time, Villeda then reportedly struck Villatoro with a metal bar and started beating him around 8:30 a.m. on October 19, officials said.
The men left the injured Villatoro on the ground but returned a short time later. Villeda beat and then stabbed Villatoro, which eventually killed him, officials said.
The assault was called in to 9-1-1 after a nearby resident saw something happening on West Post Road while he drank his morning cup of coffee.
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Sarceno and his brother, who was not charged in connection with Villeda’s death, were taken into custody by Morrisville police moments after the violent assault. Villeda fled the scene and was picked up less than a month later in New York.
Both Sarceno and Villeda were in the United State illegally, according to court records.
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Villeda pleaded no contest to third-degree murder and related offenses in November and will be sentenced in May.
