FLEMINGTON, N.J. (AP) - A North Plainfield man has had his murder sentence reduced after an appeals court ruled it was excessive because he wouldn’t have been released until he was in his 90s.
Gary Passarelli was 42 when he was convicted in 2015 of the beating and stabbing killing of John Niko, an acquaintance in Raritan Township.
The two men had allegedly argued about the return of a laptop computer of Passarelli’s that Niko had repaired.
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Passarelli was sentenced to 60 years with 51 years of parole ineligibility. In December, an appeals court ordered a resentencing.
On Thursday, Passarelli’s sentence was reduced to 35 years with 30 years of parole ineligibility.
Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony Kearns III called the new sentence insufficient considering the nature of the crime.
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