PREVIOUSLY DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN SENTENCED FOR TRYING TO STAB WOMAN TO DEATH IN PENNSYLVANIA

WILKES-BARRE, PA (The Times Leader) – A man in the country illegally was sentenced Friday to spend a maximum of four decades in prison for a brutal Hazleton stabbing.

Nelson Hernandez Rivera, 36, originally of the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty in October to a count of attempted criminal homicide, admitting he repeatedly stabbed former romantic partner Evelyn Almonte-Diaz on March 19, 2017. A charge of aggravated assault was withdrawn after his guilty plea.

He appeared in court before Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough on Friday for sentencing.

While Assistant District Attorney Brittany Quinn pushed for the upper sentencing range, defense attorney Joseph F. Sklarosky Sr. asked for leniency, noting the standard range of sentencing was a “long time.”

“Life’s a long time,” Judge Vough countered, referencing the mandatory sentence of a first-degree murder conviction. “He’s lucky she didn’t die.”

Through an interpreter, Almonte-Diaz recalled being stabbed in the chest repeatedly by Hernandez Rivera. Investigators said he attacked Almonte-Diaz inside Crystal Barbeque at 44 E. Broad St.

A security guard shot Hernandez Rivera in the leg during...

Read More HERE