Judge Daniel ordered Rosario to be placed on probation for two years after the completion of his sentence.
Angel M. RosarioSPRINGFIELD - A former Springfield firefighter was sentenced Wednesday to serve a year in jail after a Hampden Superior Court jury found him guilty last week on a charge of intimidating a witness.
Judge Daniel A. Ford sentenced Angel M. Rosario, who was a firefighter for 12 years until his lost his job while held in jail after being arrested in this case, to two years in the Hampshire County Correctional Center.
Ford ordered one year to be served and the other year suspended with two years probation.
Defense lawyer Vincent A. Bongiorni asked Ford to sentence Rosario to the Hampshire County facility because the brother of the victim in the case, Joseph Alvarado, is a correctional officer at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow.
Bongiorni asked Ford to sentence Rosario to probation, saying the 2-3 minutes of Rosario’s behavior that resulted in the conviction should not outweight the rest of his client’s life.
He said Rosario, 46, of Springfield served in the military for his country then as a firefighter for the city, all the while raising a daughter as a single parent.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew J. Shea asked Ford to sentence Rosario to two to three years in state prison, saying the nature of the crime of intimidation of a witness goes to the very heart of the justice system.
He said Rosario intimidated Alvarado in the courthouse, right in front of a court officer.
The jury last week acquitted Rosario of armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and threat to commit a crime.
He was accused of stabbing Alvarado, 48, of Springfield, outside Allen Park Road Apartments on July 11, 2008.
Defense lawyer Vincent A. Bongiorni had argued Alvarado, who has a number of convictions for drug crimes and acts of violence, was the aggressor in the July 2008 incident.
The intimidation of a witness charge was brought after Alvarado was in the hallway of District Court on an unrelated matter when Rosario spotted him, making a shooting gesture with his finger.
Rosario was in the courthouse to check in with a probation officer as required by his pre-trial bail conditions in the case stemming from the July 11, 2008, incident at Allen Park Road apartments.
Alvarado was being brought into a courtroom through the hall on a case in which he was charged with shooting at Angela Perez’ car as she drove it.
On Wednesday Alvarado gave a victim impact statement saying he wanted Ford to sentence Rosario to the maximum penalty allowed by law.
He said, “To the defendant I say, walk in the shadow of darkness for your deceit, betrayals and convictions. I shall take the high road and continue to walk in the light and blessings of the Lord for he is the ultimate judge and jury.”
Testimony at the trial showed Rosario started seeing Angela Perez while Alvarado, father of two of her children, was in prison for three years on a cocaine dealing charge.
On the night of July 11, 2008, Perez had twice called police on Alvarado, but he left before police arrived. It was the next morning when Alvarado was coming back to Perez’ apartment the incident occured between Alvarado, Rosario and another man that gave rise to the assault charges against Rosario of which he was acquitted.