Father, like son, sent off to jail

The two were sentenced to seven years after attacking their Port Richey landlord last year.

By CARY DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 11, 2001

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Together, Joseph Romeo Sr. and his 16-year-old son nearly killed an elderly man in February 2000, beating and stabbing him and leaving him for dead.

Now father will join son as an inmate of the state of Florida.

Romeo Sr., 50, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping and carjacking. Circuit Judge Craig C. Villanti sentenced Romeo Sr. to seven years in prison followed by eight years probation.

That's the same sentence Joseph Romeo Jr., now 18, received in August after pleading no contest to attempted first-degree murder.

The attack on Feb. 2, 2000, occurred after 75-year-old James Kordis went to Romeo Sr.'s Port Richey apartment to collect $800 in back rent. Romeo Sr. and his son asked Kordis to drive them to a nearby restaurant, where they said they could get the money from a friend.

When they arrived at the closed restaurant, prosecutors say, the pair attacked Kordis, a well-known member of Pasco's Greek community. Romeo Jr. struck Kordis with a metal rod and his father stabbed the elderly man in the stomach, according to prosecutors.

The Romeos put Kordis in the back seat of his car and drove around New Port Richey, police said. They asked him to give them jobs as maintenance men at the apartment complex. Kordis agreed, police said, on the condition that the men drive him to the hospital.

A block away from Community Hospital of New Port Richey, the Romeos got out of the car and fled, leaving Kordis for dead, prosecutors said. Kordis somehow managed to drive the short distance to the hospital, walking into the emergency room with a dangerously low heart rate.

-- Cary Davis covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is cbdavis@sptimes.com.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright