A gunman who led police on a nationwide manhunt was sentenced Wednesday to 16 years in prison for fatally shooting a 28-year-old man in Hempstead two years ago.
James Marckesano had pleaded guilty in April at Nassau County court to manslaughter in the death of Victor Benitez. Both the suspect and the victim are from Hempstead. Charges of second-degree murder and weapons counts were dropped in exchange for Marckesano’s plea.
Authorities have said the 26-year-old man shot the victim, who was found lying on the ground on Clinton Street while suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen at 4:41 a.m. on July 4, 2015. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Marckesano was apprehended in Texas in December 2015.
