 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Moschella sentenced to 60 days in jail
By CARY DAVIS © St. Petersburg Times, published October 14, 2000 NEW PORT RICHEY -- Teddy Niziol's family walked into a Pasco courtroom Friday with one thought in mind: justice for a loved one who died much too young.
This was no time for sympathy, they said, because Moschella, 17, had never apologized to them for pulling the trigger and accidentally killing Niziol, his best friend. "He has shown no remorse," said Annette Niziol, the victim's mother, in a letter read aloud during Friday's hearing. "He needs to be punished for his actions and not just for Teddy's family. Steven has his whole life in front of him, and Teddy's is over." But Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Craig C. Villanti looked into Moschella's eyes and saw something different. "I think he can be rehabilitated," the judge said just before handing down his sentence. "Teenagers aren't perfect. . . . Putting him in prison for a long period of time? I don't think that's justice." The judge decided there will be no prison time for Moschella, who pleaded guilty Friday to a single felony charge of manslaughter by culpable negligence. But there also will be no Thanksgiving and Christmas. Villanti sentenced Moschella to 60 days in the county jail, followed by two years of community control and four years probation. In an unusual move, the judge ordered that the jail time be served on all school holidays and the weekends that accompany them. At the end of the school year, Moschella will have to serve the remaining days of his sentence -- about a month -- in one consecutive term. The judge also ordered that Moschella speak at every high school in the county about the danger of guns; pay full restitution, including the cost for Niziol's family to receive grief counseling; earn a diploma or a GED; abstain from alcohol and drugs; and seek psychological treatment. Villanti withheld a judgment of guilt because Moschella had no significant juvenile record. With the prosecution's consent, Moschella was sentenced as a youthful offender, which limited the punishment to a maximum of six years in prison. Had he been sentenced as an adult, he could have faced up to 15 years in prison. Just before Villanti handed down the sentence, Moschella -- dressed in a dark, pinstriped suit -- addressed the judge. "I regret my actions on that day and will for the rest of my life," the teen said. "I've learned a very important lesson about how dangerous a gun can be." Then he turned around and locked eyes with Ted and Annette Niziol. "I am very, very, very, very sorry for taking the life of your son," Moschella said. "Please forgive me." Afterward, in a brief news conference on the courthouse steps, Moschella said he was surprised at the sentence he received. "It was a lot more lenient than I thought it would be," he said. Asked by one reporter why he didn't cry during the emotional hearing when nearly everyone else was moved to tears, he replied: "I just don't show my emotions." The shooting occurred as Niziol was driving Moschella and three other students away from the Ridgewood parking lot. In his Toyota 4-Runner, Niziol had a .22-caliber handgun that was stolen days earlier during a string of burglaries in St. Pete Beach. Niziol handed the gun to Moschella, who pulled the trigger as the weapon was pointed at the back of the driver's seat. The bullet tore through Niziol's back, perforated his heart and killed him almost instantly. Nicolette Niziol, the victim's younger sister, was in the car and watched as her brother opened the door and fell to the pavement. In a letter read in court Friday, she said she will always live with the image of watching her brother die. She also said that before the weapon fired, Moschella pointed the gun at her and she told him to put it away. "That makes him the most ignorant person in the world," she wrote in the letter. "He was so negligent in that car loaded with kids." The shooting, ruled unintentional, attracted widespread interest because it highlighted the growing problem of guns in schools. Ted Niziol said a harsh sentence was needed because "a message has to be sent about guns." Moschella's family and friends pleaded for a lenient sentence, saying the teen has demonstrated in the months since the shooting that he can lead a productive life. Moschella is being home-schooled and is on track to graduate with his class next year. He also has been attending church regularly, sometimes bringing friends with him. He wants to join the Marines after graduation and become an airplane mechanic, they said. "You can't do any worse than what he's done to himself," said Moschella's attorney, Keith Hammond. "You can't take away his guilt. You can't take away his shame." Niziol's family left the courthouse quickly after the hearing, declining to speak with reporters.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
