One of the first East Chicago Imperial Gangsters to cooperate with federal attorneys saw that cooperation rewarded Tuesday with a sentence of 20 years in prison.
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Federal sentencing guidelines had recommended that Galo Benjamin Feliciano, 26, of East Chicago, serve 30 years to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to racketeer, murdering three people and other charges.
However, U.S. District Judge Philip Simon said during the sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon that he would agree to the request for 20 years by federal and defense attorneys based solely on how much Feliciano had helped the government.
“It ought to be rewarded and rewarded greatly,” Simon said.
Feliciano’s attorney Visvaldis Kupsis noted in his sentencing memorandum that Feliciano was one of the first of the 23 defendants in the case to plead guilty and the first high-ranking gang member to do so. He talked with federal attorneys eight times over the course of the case, Kupsis said, and his plea deal likely convinced other co-defendants to also plead guilty soon after.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Nozick said during the hearing Tuesday that Feliciano’s testimony against fellow defendant Juan Briseno, who was convicted during a trial earlier this year of murdering five people, was instrumental in getting two of those convictions.
Nozick also noted that although Feliciano pleaded guilty to three murders, he never fired the fatal shot in any of them. He was the driver in two of them, including the murder of Miguel Colon, whom Briseno and another defendant, Robert Lockhart, shot at during a drive-by.
He did shoot at East Chicago resident Juan Murrillo Sr., who tried to stop Feliciano and other Imperial Gangsters as they tried to steal his snowblower, but likely did not fire the shot that actually killed Murillo, according to court filings.
He also pleaded guilty to murdering Jesus Alvarez, who he and IGs mistook for a rival gang member. Alvarez was celebrating his 18th birthday at the time.
Simon noted during the hearing the violence of Feliciano’s crimes, saying that had it not been for the extent of his cooperation, he would have received a much harsher sentence.
“That would have been it,” Simon said, adding that he wasn’t sure if Feliciano cooperated out of self-interest or to help repair his past crimes.
Feliciano apologized in court to the family of his victims.
“I know it’s not a good answer, I’m sorry, it’s the best I can do,” he said, also apologizing to his family.”
Kupsis said after the hearing that he thinks Feliciano did cooperate with the government to try and better his life.
“It was a first step to getting his life back on track,” he said.
Contact Teresa Auch Schultz at [email protected].