Rochester Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder and Narcotics Offenses
ROCHESTER, N.Y.—A Rochester man has been sentenced to life in prison plus five years for murder, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin, and the use of firearms in furtherance of a drug conspiracy.
Damion Colabatistto, 40, of Rochester, NY, was convicted following a jury trial and sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. on April 1, 2023.
The evidence presented during Colabatistto’s trial established that he and Angelo Ocasio, his former brother-in-law and friend, went to 137 Cameron Street on July 26, 2009, to kill a rival drug dealer. However, they mistakenly shot and killed Meosha Harmon when she came to the upstairs window of the residence.
Colabatistto participated in the planning of the murder of Jose Troche on January 14, 2010, and was the getaway driver when Paul Plaza shot Troche outside his house at 510 Augustine Street in Rochester. The murder was committed because James Kendrick and his brother Pablo “Paul” Plaza feared that Troche would cooperate against Kendrick in an ongoing narcotics prosecution.
The investigation, which commenced in 2010, revealed that the drug conspiracy to which Colabatistto and Ocasio belonged was led by Kendrick and Plaza. The group was a large, long-term, and very violent drug distribution group that committed multiple beatings, shootings, and murders to protect their drug operations and to retaliate against those who posed a danger to the conspiracy.
James Kendrick and Paul Plaza were tried in a separate, seven-week trial and were each found guilty of the drug trafficking conspiracy and of several firearms offenses, including offenses relating to the murder of Jose Troche. Kendrick and Plaza were also found guilty of the murder of Francisco Santos in October 1998 and Ryan Cooper in the spring of 1999. Paul Plaza and James Kendrick have also been sentenced to life in prison.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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