A man convicted as an accomplice to a 2007 murder asked a judge Monday afternoon to have the remaining seven years of his sentence suspended.
Michael Soto, 35, appeared in court wearing a green prison jumpsuit and smiled at his mother, sister and two friends at the beginning of the hearing. He was found guilty of giving a handgun to a friend who shot and killed Aaron Kar on Jan. 2, 2007. He was originally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He was 17 at the time of the crime.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a life without parole sentence for someone under the age of 18 violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. A judge resentenced him in 2019 to 25 years to life after a hearing. The New Hampshire Supreme Court later ruled the decision could be applied retroactively.
Prosecutor Benjamin Agati objected to giving Soto any relief from the sentence, which had been reduced about five years ago in 2019.
“The defendant has not taken responsibility for loading the gun, wiping down the gun, handing it to Roscoe White and then disposing of the gun afterward,” White said.
Soto’s lawyers, Charles Bookman and Ghazi Al-Marayati, filed a nine-page request for the suspension back in July. They mentioned he earned his GED in 2013 and is in group sessions on post-traumatic stress disorder, socialization, social skills and coping mindfully.
Soto told Judge Daniel Will during a brief statement that he is truly sorry about what he did.
“The prosecutor said I didn’t take responsibility, but back then, I was just a child. I was a juvenile,” he said. “I didn’t trust nobody.”
He said he took responsibility in 2019 during resentencing and continues to do so.
“I am really just looking for you to just have faith in me and to give me an opportunity to show the man that I became now that I strive every day to be a better version of myself.”
Soto received mental health counseling during a stay at a prison in Kansas in 2015 where he reported many years of childhood abuse and trauma.
“This is really about a 17-year-old and now a man in his 30s,” Bookman said. “We have someone who has gone through a process. He had a difficult upbringing.”
Soto has conducted everything offered at the prison and he continues to improve himself, his attorneys said. Earlier this year, he took a course called “Dealing with Feelings” at the prison, according to court documents.
“When we look to the future, things look very good for Mr. Soto to be a productive member of society,” Bookman said.
Most of Soto’s rehabilitation efforts were brought up during the 2019 sentencing, Agati said.
“We are encouraged by the work that he has done and we think that will reflect once it gets to his parole hearing,” Agati said. “He will get to live the years of life that Aaron never gets to have.”
Agati said Kar family members object to the request for early release.
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