Goshen teen pleads guilty to burglary, but not having sex with horses

1-17-2010 New York:

GOSHEN — ___ admitted everything Tuesday in Orange County Court, except the part about having sex with horses.

The 18-year-old from the Village of Goshen pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary, a felony, admitting he burglarized the Goshen Historic Track for the purpose of committing a crime last year. But under questioning from Assistant District Attorney A.J. Iuele, ___ said he made his way into the landmark building for the purpose of stealing a candy bar.

The plea-bargain covered all the charges Goshen police filed against ____ last month, when they concluded a six-month investigation by charging him with sexual misconduct, petty larceny and burglary. The evidence against him included video surveillance. Prosecutors insisted that ___ plead guilty to the burglary, because it was the only felony he faced; sexual misconduct, the section of state Penal Law that bans sex with animals, is a misdemeanor, and so is petty larceny.

In return for his plea, ___ faces up to six months in jail and five years' probation when he's sentenced on Feb. 9 by County Court Judge Robert Freehill. Freehill could also impose a lesser sentence, such as straight probation, or sentence Rivera to a year in jail without probation.

___ answered questions in a monotone “Yes, sir” and “No, sir.” When Freehill asked ___ if he was satisfied with the free legal advice he received because he's indigent, he answered, “not really.”

But he eventually admitted that he understood what he was doing and that if he rolled the dice, went to trial and lost, he could have faced up to 2-1/3 to seven years in state prison for the burglary.

___ admitted to village police that he used bridles to restrain the horses while he had his way with them. Police said ___ admitted he had intercourse a dozen times with four horses stabled at the landmark racetrack. He didn't break in, but ___ didn't have permission to be in the building, and he intended to commit a crime, which made him a burglar in the eyes of the law.

The case spawned a plethora of jokes and seems destined to become local legend, but Village police Chief James Watt isn't laughing. He said, “I'd like to see the community protected from this individual. This isn't one person on a drunken lark, doing this one time.”

After he pleaded guilty, ___ returned to the Orange County Jail, where he's been held in lieu of $15,000 bail since he was arrested Dec. 17.

He lived alone in a room at the Goshen Inn, next to the track on Park Place. He appeared to have been living in the village for about a year, Watt said, and he didn't seem to have a steady job.

During Tuesday's proceedings, Freehill acknowledged that ___ may have a previous conviction in Puerto Rico. That was news to ___'s lawyer, Gary Abramson of the Orange County Legal Aid Society, who asked him in a loud whisper, “Have you been convicted of something in Puerto Rico?” But ___ didn't respond, and prosecutors didn't place any evidence of a previous conviction on the record. That task may fall to the county's probation department, which will investigate ___'s background before sentencing and make a non-binding sentencing recommendation to the judge.

Abramson said he'll ask Freehill to treat ___ as a youthful offender, which would seal the conviction from the public record. Iuele said prosecutors will oppose that, and Freehill didn't say what he'll do when ___ returns to court next month. ..Source.. Oliver Mackson, TImes Herald-Record