Rivera pleads not guilty to murder plot
The Chronicle-Telegram Staff
ELYRIA — Accused killer Ruben Rivera pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court to charges he conspired with a fellow gang member to have a key witness against him killed.
Rivera, 38, could get a death sentence if convicted of the August 2004 shooting death of Manuel Garcia. And it’s that case that sparked the latest charges against him, which allege he plotted to kill Garcia’s girlfriend, Shareaka Bason, who has identified Rivera as one of the three men involved in robbing Garcia at his Lorain home.
The plan was discovered after police, acting on a tip, began reading the letters Rivera was exchanging with a prisoner at Trumbull Correctional Institution that discussed killing Bason. The would-be hitman has not yet been served with charges of conspiracy to commit murder filed against him by a county grand jury.
Police have said the other prisoner never asked for money and it appears he was going to kill Bason as a favor to Rivera, both of whom are accused of being members of the same gang.
Rivera is one of two accused killers who county Common Pleas Judge James Burge has ruled must be executed using only a sedative if they are convicted and sentenced to death, a decision the state and prosecutors oppose.
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Filed by The Chronicle-Telegram Staff July 18th, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 3% |
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