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Done AND Done: Hudson Pair Get 30 Years Each In Bergen Robbery Murder

UPDATE: Two Hudson County men who killed a Fairview pot dealer during an armed robbery at his home were sentenced to a plea-bargained 30 years each in state prison.

Carlos Burgos (left), Raul Torres

Carlos Burgos (left), Raul Torres

Photo Credit: BACKGROUND: Jerry DeMarco / INSETS: BCPO

Carlos Burgos of Jersey City and Raul Torres of North Bergen, both 23, must each serve 25½ years behind bars before they'll be eligible for parole under the terms of their respective plea agreements.

The plot's mastermind, Lexie Burke, 24, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter last year in the June 2019 shooting death of David Duque-Soto.

He's scheduled for sentencing on June 23, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.

Burgos and Torres both took deals less than three weeks after their getaway driver, David Martinez, was convicted this past March of felony murder, among other counts, following a trial in Superior Court in Hackensack.

Both men, like Burke, were originally charged with felony murder.

Like him, they opted to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for leniency at their sentencing this past Tuesday, May 23.

They didn’t have much choice, really, given the fact that Burke or Martinez – or both – could have been called to testify if they’d gone to trial.

Martinez, 21 (photo at bottom), also got 30 years -- 85% of which he, too, must serve.

That leaves Dylan Rodriguez of North Bergen (photo below), who has remained held at the Bergen County Jail since July of last year.

Rodriguez, 22, is charged with felony murder and perjury, among other counts, for allegedly supplying and then hiding the murder weapon.

It was recovered from his attic during what investigators told Daily Voice were no fewer than a half-dozen warranted searches.

Burke and others had previously gone to Duque-Soto's Fourth Street duplex apartment to buy a pound of pot. He purportedly pulled a gun on them, however, and they left.

The group returned the night of June 29, 2019 bent on revenge, investigators said. They were there barely a minute when Duque-Soto was shot.

A responding ALS unit pronounced Duque-Soto dead of gunshot wounds and acute blunt-force trauma.

In an odd twist, a companion who'd been in the bathroom when the killing occurred hopped a bus to West New York, where he ran into police headquarters to report what had happened, investigators told Daily Voice. He's never been identified.

Painstaking work by several of Musella’s detectives, assisted by Fairview police, led to arrests barely 48 hours after Duque-Soto was slain.

Investigators canvassed the area and found security video that showed two distinctive vehicles, which helped them develop suspects. A series of interviews that followed in Fairview and North Bergen led to warranted searches.

Musella thanked Assistant Prosecutors Suzanne Cevasco and Matthew Fitzpatrick of his Major Crimes Unit for their "zealous advocacy for the victim and his family and for helping combat gun violence in Bergen County."

They were aided, he said, by Legal Assistant Catherine Fantuzzi and Assistant Prosecutor Jaimee Chasmer of his Appellate Section. 

Musella also commended the detectives of his Major Crimes Unit, Fort Lee police and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office "for their skill and professionalism in investigating this matter."  

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