Former death penalty prosecutors call for freeing man in murder for hire

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Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
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Feb. 15—The two former federal prosecutors who handled the death penalty case against former East Hartford resident Wilfredo Perez in a drug-related murder for hire in Hartford in 1996 are now calling for his "compassionate release" from prison due to his vulnerability to COVID-19 and his good record in prison.

Perez, who is in his mid-50s, wants to live with his sister, Nelida Perez, in Vernon if he wins release, his lawyer said in court papers.

While the former prosecutors, David A. Ring and Shawn J. Chen, presented the death penalty issue to the jury at Perez's 2004 trial in U.S. District Court in New Haven, they never called for his execution for paying the killer of Theodore Casiano, the leader of a rival drug gang. Instead they left the decision to the jury.

The decision to pursue the death penalty was made at higher levels of the Justice Department in the George W. Bush administration.

"The evidence presented at trial showed that Wilfredo was not a moving force behind the murder," Ring and Chen wrote in a letter to Senior Judge Janet Bond Arterton, who presided over the 2004 trial and will decide on Perez's compassionate-release motion. "Accordingly, we believe that a life sentence for Wilfredo is excessive and not commensurate with the role that he played in the crime."

The life sentence was mandatory under federal law. But that doesn't prevent Perez from receiving compassionate release, which is a type of sentence reduction, under the 2018 First Step Act.

SEEKING RELEASE

INMATE: Wilfredo Perez, who's in his mid 50s and lived in East Hartford in the 1990s, and wants to live with his sister in Vernon if he is released from prison

CRIME: "Green lighting" and paying $6,000 for the murder of Theodore Casiano, the head of a rival drug gang

REASONS: Vulnerability to COVID-19, good record in prison, close family ties

At a hearing held via teleconference last week before Arterton, there was no dispute that Perez has two medical conditions recognized as risk factors for COVID-19, obesity and high blood pressure. That makes him eligible for compassionate release.

But in deciding whether to release him, Arterton can weigh all aspects of his background and crimes.

Perez has been in prison for about 23 years, a period that started several years before he was indicted in the Casiano murder.

Four weeks after Casiano was killed in 1996, a federal grand jury indicted Perez and several other people associated with his ring on drug charges. Perez was released on bond while the drug case was pending but ultimately received a sentence of almost 22 years in prison.

He went to prison in January 1998 and has been incarcerated ever since, according to the motion filed by his federal public defender, Kelly M. Barrett.

One of Barrett's major arguments for releasing Perez is that he has been almost a model inmate, receiving only two disciplinary tickets while in prison. He has also participated in numerous rehabilitation programs, including getting a high-school equivalency diploma.

Working independently, he has obtained certification as an electrician, and officials at the Otisville federal prison in New York state estimate that he has saved the prison thousands of dollars by repairing appliances, while also working at a regular prison job.

In addition, several inmates say he has mentored them.

"Will found a way to show younger inmates that it was OK to respect authority and still be respected by others on the compound," former inmate Eric J. Snead wrote in a letter to the judge.

But prosecutor Patrick J. Doherty, who opposes Perez's release, warned that the "productive life" he has lived in "the controlled environment of prison" doesn't guarantee that such conduct will continue after his release.

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

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