A Jersey City man was sentenced to 15 years in state prison last week as the result of an incident in 2014 where he pistol whipped and shot a man outside a bar, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
On Friday, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mark Nelson sentenced Rolando Morrison, 39, of Jersey City, to 15 years in state prison for aggravated assault, Suarez said in a statement.
The assault occurred on August 31, 2014, outside of Cherry’s Lounge in Jersey City.
During the assault, Morrison struck the victim three times with a handgun and then stepped back and fired a single shot into the victim’s torso before fleeing the scene, authorities said.
When members of the Jersey City Police Department confronted him, Morrison attempted to flee and then resisted arrest, officials said.
As a result, on June 25, a Hudson County jury found Morrison guilty of aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, obstruction of justice, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Additionally, the jury found him not guilty of attempted murder. Following the trial, Morrison pleaded guilty to the charge of certain persons not to possess a firearm, police said.
Morrison was sentenced to five years for the firearm offenses, five years without parole for the certain persons offense and 18 months for the obstruction offense, officials said.
The sentences will run concurrently and the 15 years will be subject to the No Early Release Act, which stipulates that he will have to serve a minimum of 12 years, 9 months before being eligible for parole, authorities said.
The case was investigated by the Jersey City Police Department and the state was represented by Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Roe of the Homicide Unit.
