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Eric Lee, 27, has been sentenced to a term of between 23 years to life in prison for his role in the murder of Trevon Boswell last year during a spree of violent robberies in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted robbery, and two counts of robbery and attempted murder for the May crime spree last year.
Lee also pleaded guilty to promoting prison contraband based on an incident while he was detained in Westchester County Jail. He was sentenced to a term of between two and four years in prison on that charge.
On May 21 last year, Lee and three others took part in a series of violent incidents in southern Westchester. Boswell, an intended robbery victim
Mount Vernon residents Lee, and Allen “Hat” Copeland, New Rochelle resident Sincere Smith, Waterbury, Conn., resident Leroy Garcia and John Oquendo from the Bronx, participated in a conspiracy to commit robberies in Westchester, which led to the death of one of their intended victims. The spree spanned through several cities, including Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers, as well as locations in the Bronx. It lasted several hours.
After successfully completing armed robberies of their fourth and fifth victims, Lee and Smith attempted to rob their sixth victim, Boswell, while Garcia stood as a lookout and Copeland served as a getaway driver, the charges state. When their latest victim attempted to get away, Lee shot Boswell in the back in the stairwell of his own residence.
Following the shooting, their spree continued - armed with illegal handguns - to Bonnefoy Place in New Rochelle and the 45th Precinct in the Bronx. According to the indictment, while in the Bronx, near the Mount Vernon border, they attempted to take a chain from around their 11th victim’s neck, and when their cab driver attempted to get the chain back, Lee shot him twice.
The spree continued to Yonkers, where Lee, Smith, Copeland and Oquendo robbed their victims at a cab stand. In total, during the 12-hour spree, 16 people were victimized, including the shooting death of Boswell.
Law enforcement officials from Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Yonkers and the NYPD worked together to investigate the spree.
The charges against the five men include murder, attempted murder, robbery, assault, attempted robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, conspiracy, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of stolen property. They all pleaded not guilty to the 50-count indictment.
At the time of the spree, Copeland was on parole for a 2014 conviction for possession of a firearm. Garcia had three New York warrants, including one from the Westchester County Department of Probation, as well as warrants in the State of Connecticut. He was also on probation supervision for a felony DWI conviction.
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