PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: May 8, 2007

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
William.Smith@rcda.nyc.gov

D.A. Donovan: 2 Co-Defendants of Ronell Wilson Sentenced for Participation in 2003 Murder of Undercover NYPD Detectives on Staten Island
***Mitchell Diaz, 22, & Jessie Jacobus, 21, Sentenced to 15 Years to Life in Prison as Part of Cooperation Agreement with Prosecutors ***

     STATEN ISLAND, NY - Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that Mitchell Diaz, 22, and Jessie Jacobus, 21, both of Staten Island, were sentenced to prison terms of 15 years to life for their role in murder of undercover NYPD Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews during a gun buy operation in the Stapleton section of the borough on March 10, 2003. The sentence was imposed by Justice Leonard Rienzi in State Supreme Court in accordance to a guilty plea entered by the defendants to a charge of Murder in the 2nd Degree in March 2003.

     District Attorney Donovan stated, “In the aftermath of the shooting of Detectives Nemorin and Andrews, Mr. Diaz and Mr. Jacobus were quickly apprehended for their roles in the murders. Both defendants admitted that they were with Ronell Wilson intending to rob the detectives who were there to buy a tec-9 machine gun. Immediately, both defendants exhibited remorse and their willingness to cooperate in the prosecution of the cold-blooded triggerman, Ronell Wilson. Within 90 hours of their arrest, both defendants entered into a cooperation agreement with my office, testified before a grand jury that indicted Ronell Wilson and pleaded guilty to charges of murder for which they are being sentenced today. Both Diaz and Jacobus fulfilled every aspect of their cooperation agreements and testified fully and honestly against Ronell Wilson at his trial last year. For these reasons my office today fulfilled our part of the cooperation agreement and recommended to Justice Rienzi that he sentence both men to jail terms of 15 years to life.”

     The case against defendants Jacobus and Diaz was prosecuted by Richmond County Assistant District Attorneys Paul A. Capofari, Michael Bousquet, Wanda DeOliveira and David Frey.

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