33°
Maurice Cottman, 42, was sentenced to the plea-bargained term in U.S. District Court in Newark on Tuesday, March 29.
Cottman must serve it out because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Surveillance footage showed Cottman and Reginald J. Law bursting into the Easter Grocery and Food Market at 10th Avenue and East 28th Street on Oct. 8, 2020.
One grabbed owner Miguel Espejo in a chokehold while the other pointed a gun at him.
The trio wrestled in front of the counter, knocking over items, before Espego was pistol-whipped, dragged from the store and shoved into the back of a rented U-Haul box truck with Arizona license plates that sped off, witnesses told police.
His captors kept Espego in the back of the truck on a Harlem street while they repeatedly called the victim's family demanding a $200,000 ransom that they never got.
Police were approaching the U-Haul when Cottman and Law sped off and were pursued. The vehicle crashed and Cottman was quickly seized. Espejo, who still in the back, sustained minor injuries.
The FBI identified Law thanks in part to a familiar “laugh now/cry later” tattoo on his arm and a tattoo of a woman on his torso -- as well as a $5,000 reward offered for his capture.
He was arrested on May 26, 2021.
Rather than face trial, Cottman took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to kidnapping last September. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler sentenced Cottman on Tuesday to five years of supervised release.
Law's case is still pending. It was unclear whether Cottman was helping the government prosecute him.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI with the investigation leading to the plea and sentence, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shontae D. Gray of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Narcotics Unit.
He also thanked the FBI New York Field Office and Paterson police for their assistance.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Lyndhurst and receive free news updates.
