GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - More than 18 years after he participated in the robbery, abduction and murder of a retired Grand Rapids automaker, Chad Maleski on Thursday learned he will have the opportunity to one day walk out of prison.
Maleski entered the Kent County Courthouse Thursday still destined to die in prison after a judge in 2000 sentenced him to mandatory life in prison for his role in the murder of 66-year-old Willie Jones.
Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock changed that after listening to testimony for nearly 2½ hours.
“The defendant in this matter is entitled to be re-sentenced to a term of years,’’ the judge told Maleski, now 36.
A Kent County jury found Maleski guilty of kidnapping, car-jacking, unarmed robbery and felony murder for the March 15, 2000 attack on Jones outside Michigan Lanes bowling alley on Michigan Street NE.
Maleski pulled $33 in cash from the victim’s pockets as Jones lay bleeding on the ground. Jones was stuffed into the trunk of his Cadillac; his assailants turned up the car radio to drown out his screams. Maleski later changed his blood-covered pants and shoes.
“It is very, very clear that he assisted in brutally beating this man,’’ Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Greg Boer said in asking that the life term remain unchanged. “The defendant is simply not accepting responsibility for his role in this.’’
The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office two years ago filed a motion asking that he remain locked up for life. But Trusock, after reviewing files and listening to testimony from several witnesses, said he would re-sentence Maleski to a term of years rather than mandatory life.
“Life in prison without parole is a disproportionate sentence for all but the rarest of juvenile homicide offenders,’’ Trusock said, referencing a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said mandatory life sentences for youthful killers is unconstitutional.
Maleski, who is being held in a state prison in Saginaw, will receive his new sentence in December. The minimum term can range from between 25 to 40 years, with a maximum sentence of 60 years. The range was enacted into state law following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
In asking for a lesser term, defense attorney Deno Fotieo noted that Maleski was raised in a dysfunctional home where substance abuse was common. He was sexually assaulted as a boy, and, despite having attention-deficit disorder, taken off his medication as a teenager.
About four months after he was discharged from the juvenile court system, Maleski was charged in Jones’ abduction and death.
“It’s clear he had a very difficult upbringing,’’ Fotieo told the court. “There were numerous crimes that he was involved in as a juvenile; none of those are assaultive crimes. It’s not in his nature to be assaultive.’’
Three others were also charged and convicted in Jones' death. Mark A. Kopp, 37, and Joshua Rogers, 36, are serving life terms. James Rivero, 38, is serving a 35 to 60-year term. Rogers, who was 17 when the murder occurred, will also have a re-sentencing hearing.
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