At his trial, Nicholas was convicted on the strength of testimony by Kelley and Miller who served as prosecution witnesses after cutting a deal with District Attorney Holley Carnright to avoid prison for their role in the conspiracy. (Miller remains incarcerated in the Ulster County Jail where she is expected to remain until she testifies against one more alleged conspirator early next year. Kelley is free.) Prosecutors also used video showing Nicholas at the deli with King and his killer and a series of phone calls recorded on the jail’s monitoring system between Rankin and various gang associates. Despite the fact that Nicholas does not appear on any of the recordings, prosecutors argued that the phone calls show a sinister conspiracy — first to identify the witness against Rankin and then, once they learned it was King, to kill him.
Assistant District Attorney Gerald Van Loan argued that Nicholas’ close association with the gang — members frequently partied at his house and he was in near daily communication with Miller — made the defense claim that he didn’t know that they intended to murder King unlikely.
Arguing for leniency
Ulster County Court Judge Don Williams.
At his sentencing hearing Wednesday, which was attended by King’s mother and half a dozen of Nicholas’ friends and relatives, Nicholas remained composed and quiet, taking a moment to shake hands and thank defense attorney David Gandin before Williams pronounced sentence. Nicholas declined to speak on his own behalf, opting instead to allow Gandin to make the case for leniency.
Gandin noted that while a pre-sentencing report in which Nicholas refused to accept responsibility for the crime cast his client in a “very negative light,” letters written by those who knew him told a different story. Gandin described his client as an “intelligent” and “thoughtful” man who had tried, however imperfectly, to overcome a difficult upbringing.
“We all know that gang membership sometimes comes from a defect in a person’s upbringing and a desire for a sense of belonging,” Gandin said.
The defense attorney also noted that prosecutors in the case had been willing to settle for a sentence of eight years in state prison in exchange for a guilty plea. That deal, which would have spared Nicholas more than a decade in prison, was rejected by Judge Williams. From the bench, Williams noted that a second plea deal, which he had reluctantly agreed to consider, would have given Nicholas 12 years in prison in exchange for truthful testimony about his role in the murder conspiracy. Nicholas rejected that offer and went to trial instead.
Finally, Gandin argued that his client should not face more time than the alleged mastermind of the plot, Rankin, who was sentenced to 12-and-a-half to 25 years in prison after his conviction at trial on a single charge of conspiracy. (Mattis and Griffin were convicted of first-degree murder in February; both were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole).
The argument that kids join gangs because of their environment or needing a sense of belonging is a cop-out. Organizations like church, Boys & Girls Clubs and all the many other “legal” organizations are options to these kids. They choose to join gangs and live a gang life style. A person who helps someone kill another person is as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger. This isn’t about race, its about gangs and gang violence. If the gangs don’t want the stiff penalties that come with criminal activity, they can leave Kingston anytime. This “redneck town” has had enough and it’s about time the criminals find that out. I want to see more of the same penalties handed out and for the gangs to get out.