This is Part VII in a series. To read from the beginning, go back to Part I.
Judge Anthony Carbone today sentenced Suzanne Ribando to Conditional Discharge, a highly unusual and light sentence based on an equally unusual recommendation from the Westchester County Department of Probation. Carbone also vacated an unconstitutional Order of Protection imposed on Suzanne Ribando by Judge Gail Rice in 2008, lifting a ban on Ribando entering or enjoying the use of her own backyard. Patrick Hickey, one the complainants in the case, glared at Ribando as he stormed out of the courtroom.
“I am happy,” said Ribando’s attorney John Mangialardi about the sentence, “Given the fact that she was convicted of what she was convicted of this was a good outcome.”
Ribando was facing up to two years in prison and three years probation as well as fines, community service and other punitive measures. Other than a mandatory New York State surcharge of $250 there was no punishment.
Despite the victory today, Ribando is determined to clear her name. She told Talk of the Sound after the hearing that she intends to appeal the two misdemeanor convictions for criminal contempt for violating the Orders of Protection.
The recommendation of Conditional Discharge was a surprise. Mangialardi said that in all his years of practice he had never seen a recommendation of Conditional Discharge. He said the report indicated that Ribando’s prognosis was good and that probation was not needed.
“It’s the best probation recommendation that I have ever seen,” said Mangialardi.
Judge Carbone, in pronouncing his sentence, commented on the recommendation noting that Conditional Discharge was “unusual” before basing his sentencing on the recommendation. Conditional Discharge basically means if Ribando stays out of trouble over the next year nothing will happen to her.
The June 2011 sentencing hearing was postponed when the New Rochelle City Court file did not contain the sentencing recommendation report. The updated report provided by the Westchester County Department of Probation for today’s hearing indicated that the original recommendation report had been sent to the New Rochelle City Court in February 2010, 17 months previous. Mangialardi chose not to make an issue of the missing report to Judge Carbone.
The sentence was a stunning defeat for Patrick and Tracey Hickey who, by tapping into a web of contacts within the local justice system — the New Rochelle Police Department, the New Rochelle City Court and the Westchester County District Attorney’s office — had been able to harass and torment Suzanne Ribando for years. Every count based on the testimony of Patrick and Tracey Hickey and their friend and neighbor Dana Ziogas has been thrown out and the only two remaining counts have resulted in no punishment for Ribando. The Hickeys are now facing a million dollar civil lawsuit brought by Suzanne Ribando.
Patrick Hickey was accompanied to court by an older man in a salmon-colored polo shirt who repeatedly stared over at Suzanne Ribando and her mother. The man got up from his seat next to Hickey and spoke to several other people, all of whom then turned around and glared over at Suzanne Ribando. As the hearing ended, Hickey and the man in the salmon-colored polo shirt abruptly stood up and slowly walked to the door, staring intently at Suzanne Ribando. She was oblivious to their angry stares as her attention was focused on Judge Carbone. As he reached the door, Hickey stopped, stepped back into the courtroom, leaned forward, looking towards Ribando like he was about to say something then, thinking better of it, walked out of the courtroom.
Judge Carbone modified the “temporary” Order of Protection issued by Judge Rice in 2008 under which Ribando was not allowed to exit the back door or side door of her house or enter or enjoy the use the backyard of her home at 106 Stephenson Boulevard. One of the two convictions in the case were for violating this order when Ribando went to help her mother who had been injured in the backyard. The other conviction was for walking her dog in Stephenson Park.
“He took out conditions that were illegal conditions in the first place,” said Mangialardi.
Carbone left in place the “permanent” Order of Protection and added the Hickey’s neighbor, Dana Ziogas to the Order. The permanent Order of Protection will remain for five years pending Ribando’s appeal.
After the sentencing hearing ended, Suzanne Ribando and her mother, Betty Ribando, went home. For the first since December, 2008, Suzanne Ribando was able to legally walk into her backyard, sit down and enjoy the sunshine on a beautiful summer afternoon.
“It feels great,” said Ribando. “Something I have been looking forward to a long time. I’m ready to move on, to move forward.”
This is Part VII in a series. More to come.
Part III: Nightmare on Stephenson Boulevard: New Rochelle Woman Set Up and Knocked Down
Part IV: Nightmare on Stephenson Boulevard: Nefarious New Rochelle Neighbors Have Only Scratched the Surface
Part V: Nightmare on Stephenson Boulevard: The Dark End of the Street
Part VI: Nightmare on Stephenson Boulevard: The Stink Test
Part VIII: Nightmare on Stephenson Boulevard: Why Did Patrick Hickey Have So Much Pull?
And the Pulitzer Prize goes to…….
Mr. Cox I still am blown away by this story and have forward it to several New Rochelle residents. This type of awareness and local reporting that you provide is top notch and this story needs to be shared with DATELINE, 20/20, or good ol’ John Stossel! Attention like this IS NOT what the authorities want, but will maybe straighten a few out! Time to pitch this to the big guys so Ms. Ribando remains the first and last victim!
Judge Carbone has dispensed justice
At last we can say that justice has taken place. Judge Carbone is showing how fair minded and careful he is in making decisions.
I have known Judge Carbone for many years but this is a crowning achievement. Keep up the good work.
Sue the hell out of this
Sue the hell out of this people, every one of them! The black booted cops, the DA’s office and anyone else involved. How this happens in this country is a disgrace.
I have to say this story
I have to say this story scares the crap out of me.
How could one family put so much energy into making this poor womens life miserable.. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing I was hurting another person.
I guarantee there are so many stories out there just like this which is so unbelievable to me.
How come the police were not reprimanded? Seems they put alot of energy into tormenting her also.
I sure hope that family doesn’t have something else up there sleeve.. All I have to say is KARMA.. and believe me what comes around goes around two fold. Thanks Bob for telling us tax payers the dirt on New Rochelle.
Good job Bob! I hope the
Good job Bob! I hope the cops that took part in this and the Hickeys pay dearly in a civil suit. No one could possibly believe that Suzanne Ribando is that evil.
Watcha Gonna Do When They Come For You
After reading this story, I am sick to know of the corruption going on in this town and how my tax dollars contribute to their salaries! Were we paying for a P.O. to stalk Ms. Ribando? How convenient he had an excuse to be in the area! The moral of this story is to have cameras installed so you can defend yourself against the “Untouchables”!
Nightmare on Stephenson Blvd.
When I saw Judge Carbone was hearing the case I knew he would make things right. I have known Anthony for 50 years, he is an honest straighter shooter, New Rochelle is lucky to have him. Good work Judge Carbone!!!!!
Nightmare on Stephenson Blvd
I am appalled at the negative comments about The Hickey’s (A wonderful family from New Rochelle). There are two sides to every story and on this blog you are only hearing the side that Mr. Cox wants you to hear.
You have nothing better to do then leave these nasty messages about the Hickey’s.
Didn’t your mother ever tell you “If you have nothing nice to say then keep it to yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!
were all ears
were all ears
Some of the people who grew
Some of the people who grew up in our nieghborhood don’t recall Patrick Hickey as being the most “charming” fellow (to put it lightly). One of his family members (can’t remember which) got drunk one day and ran over and killed a young girl that lived across our street.
That is not the Patrick
That is not the Patrick Hickey I remember from Rhodes St.
Kitty Litter
Here Kitty Kitty, do tell us of that wonderful family. Start with the patriarch Pat. Tell us of his warm cuddly nature and his patience. Tell us of his respect for women. Now riddle me this my feline friend, what issues does he have that he would not want the readers to know? Issues that those who know him know-do tell kitty…psst here’s a hint, just ask the woman closest to him, then report back..
Must be catnip……
kitty –
At no juncture did the writer offer any sprawling opinions or pass judgement on anyone.
Throughout the appalling 6 part series regarding this story, Bob only retells the story as it was told to him by the person most intimately involved: the victim.
Here, Kitty, Kitty
So where is the “wonderful” family telling their side of the story?? I highly doubt that Ms. Ribando is making this all up. I don’t know the Hickeys and don’t care to. I wonder what kind of “wonderful” these people are when they teach their own children to torment a neighbor!! Where are they? We are listening…
Reading Comprehension
Kitty, re-read the seven installments..your sentiment of “two sides to the story” should have been appreciated by NRPD, NR CITY COURT and THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY DA’S office–the story written by Mr Cox is being told BECAUSE Suzanne Ribando’s words were never considered by the authorities. EVERYTHING that wonderful HICKEY family said was BELIEVED by the authorities. So the HICKEYS have spoken and a jury did not believe a word that they or their witnesses(all those lying cops and neighbor) said
Ms.Demeanor
If YOU read the one sided articles printed YOU certainly would gathered that this woman was FOUND GUILTY of two charges. Stop believing everything is venomous blogger keeps printing.
You are both right
She was found guilty on two charges. These are the two charges where she admitted (a) walking in the park; (b) going into her backyard because her elderly mother was injured. On the charges that depended on the claims of the Hickeys, she was acquitted.
So, yes she was found guilty and yes the claims of the Hickeys were not believed by a jury.
As to the convictions, the one based on the unconstitutional order or protection from Judge Rice will almost certainly be thrown out as the order itself was illegal. The other was based on an incorrect understanding by the jury; the Order of Protection did not apply to the park and there was no distance requirement so she did not violate the order AS THE DA STATED when Wilson brought the report to the DA at the time.
So you have convictions on an illegal court order and a charged the DA said was not a violation.
Next step is the appellate court, let’s see how these two charges fair then.
Ditto Ya Done Good
Congratulations to Miss Ribando!!!!!!!!!!!!! And a Big Thank You to Bob Cox for helping her out and bringing this to our attention. I hope Miss Ribando gets way more than enough from her civil suit from the Donkeys next door (Hickeys). Maybe it will be the Donkeys who will be moving out soon!!! BRAVO!!!
nightmare finnaly over
Wow,I am impressed for once with the court system of new rochelle.Mr Cox As we say in the Bronx “YA DONE GOOD”
Thanks to Cox and TOTS
Thanks to Bob Cox and TOTS! If not for your efforts and exposing more “bad apples” who exploit the system are hooked into the NR good-old-boy system. If not for your efforts Miss Robando would probably be doing hard time today.
New Rochelle Good Old Boys Network a Sewer
You got that right a dirty ugly small town of corupt people using influence to make peoples lives difficult.
10 years ago my baby sitter has a fender bender. I work out with the owner to go to my body shop for an estimate. He comes back with another estimate twice the price. While ponder my options ( put through insurance don’t put through insurance) I start getting calls from a New Rochelle Police officer suggesting I should settle this or I may have other problems. He calls a few times at 6:45 am. It took a well placed call from a Deputy Inspector on the NYPD to make this jerk go away. Its a real small town mess needs a good cleansing on all fronts.
Embarassing for the city
Mr. Cox
The citizens of New Rochelle thank you.
Some suggestions for our City officials:
Mr. Mayor Wake up,Better yet dont run for a job your not qualified for.
Commisioner Carol time to Retire!
Council members time to fire Chuck Strome!
I nominate Robert Cox as his replacement.
He makes more of an impact then all of you put together.
embarassing for the city
Like the old saying goes “The fish stinks from the head down”
The head of the fish in this
The head of the fish in this case is the “blogger”. Absolutely nothing better to do with his time then to be a one sided writer spewing untruths and inaccurate statements. This Hickey family NEVER resided on Jackson Street nor did the so called accident occur injuring this person. Tell him to get his facts straight