 |
Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares Second Woman Pleads Guilty to Horrific Kidnapping of Albany Woman ALBANY, NY – District Attorney P. David Soares today announced that SHARON STAPLES, aka “Shay,” 21, of Troy NY, pled guilty to (1) count of Attempted Kidnapping in the Second Degree, a Class “C” Felony in front of the Honorable Thomas Breslin. In accordance with the plea bargain, STAPLES will receive no more than 6 years and no less than 3 ½ years in prison when sentenced December 9, 2009. The indictment alleges that just after Midnight on May 28 th, 2009, STAPLES, along with DANIELLA GAY and five co-defendants traveled to Albany in a car and mini-van and abducted a female victim from her Albany residence. The kidnapping occurred because the victim’s brother stole a safe belonging to a co-defendant. The seven co-defendants then took the victim to an apartment in Troy where two co-defendants evidently put the victim in a bathroom, donned rubber gloves, and savagely assaulted her in an effort to compel her brother to return the safe. It’s alleged that some of the assault was carried out over a speaker phone so the victim’s brother could hear the assault. At one point, the four female co-defendants left in an attempt to collect the safe as ransom but were unsuccessful. After returning to the apartment, all seven co-defendants evidently took the car, van and victim to a location in Troy where an exchange was scheduled for the safe. The meeting went bad and the victim’s brother fired numerous shots at the car. After fleeing the scene, the seven co-defendants allegedly put the victim in the trunk of the car and drove to Schenectady. After regaining consciousness at around 8:00 a.m., the victim could hear snoring from the front of the car and noticed the car was not moving. She popped the trunk from inside and ran from the car. A co-defendant, alerted by a dash light, began chasing the victim on foot through the streets of Schenectady. A passerby stopped, let the victim in her car and took the victim to the hospital. In August, GAY also pled guilty to (1) count of Attempted Kidnapping in the Second Degree, a Class “C” Felony and will receive no more than 6 years and no less than 3 ½ years in prison when sentenced in October. The cases against the alleged five co-defendants, THOMAS WHITE, ALYSSA SPIAK, THOMAS LEWIS, MICHAEL QUILES, and CHELSEY CLEMENTS are still ongoing. They each face an indeterminate sentence of up to life in prison if convicted. Major Offense Bureau Chief Bruce Lennard is handling the prosecution of this case.### For further information contact: Heather Streeter Orth
|
|
