It turns out Guillermo Torres-Acevedo was confused about his sentencing agreement and didn't want to appear until he spoke with the attorney representing him in Federal Court.
He couldn't reach his attorney, Alexander J. Anzalone, a Federal public defender, who was away from his phone because he was in County Court waiting for Torres-Acevedo.
Once the confusion was cleared up, Torres-Acevedo was transported by a deputy from the jail to the courthouse.
Torres-Acevedo was not sentenced today because he has not been sentenced yet in Federal Court, where he's facing from 70 to 96 months in prison.
The 23-year-old Batavia resident, who entered a guilty plea in early December to rape in the second degree, apparently thought he couldn't be sentenced in County Court until after he was sentenced in Federal Court; however, that wasn't the actual plea agreement. His sentencing locally was delayed until after his originally scheduled appearance before a Federal judge but there was no promise that his sentencing would come after that appearance.
His local attorney, Thomas Burns, asked that sentencing for Torres-Acevedo be delayed not just because a locally imposed sentence could affect the upper end of the possible sentence in Federal Court, but also because there are documents he and Anzalone are trying to obtain that could impact the decisions of the judges in both jurisdictions on the defendant's possible sentence.
Burns said both attorneys recently became aware of information that indicated Torres-Acevedo was neglected and abused as a child in Puerto Rico. Both attorneys are seeking time to obtain documentation from Puerto Rico that would substantiate this claim and that information could have a bearing on sentencing.
Judge Charles Zambito granted the request to delay sentencing to 9 a.m. April 20 but warned Torres-Acevedo that he wouldn't wait indefinitely for the documents to be produced or for a Federal judge to issue a sentence. Zambito said he could very well go ahead with sentencing in April even if the other issues haven't been resolved.
As a precaution, at the request of District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, Zambito signed a "drag order," giving deputies permission to bring Torres-Acevedo to court by force if necessary on April 20. Burns didn't oppose the order but said that since today's initial refusal to appear was just a misunderstanding he was certain the drag order would be unnecessary.
