Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane said in a phone interview this week that he could "count on one hand and still have fingers left over" the number of times he agreed to a request to reduce the sentence of somebody he prosecuted. 

One of those rare cases was on the docket last month in New London Superior Court.

Kane approved an eight-year reduction in the 52-year murder sentence of 42-year-old Eliseo Rivera. 

On Dec. 31, 1993, as an 18-year-old Latin Kings gang member known as "Sick," Rivera had shot Richard "Richie" Morales, 24, in the back of the head at the Crystal Avenue high-rise in New London.

His estimated prison release date is 2024, according to the Department of Correction. In addition to the sentence reduction, Rivera is earning time off for good behavior, which is only applicable in Connecticut to offenses committed prior to October 1994.

Hartford defense attorney Nicolas Cardwell applied for the sentence reduction on Rivera's behalf. Kane said he met with the mother, brother and aunt of the victim, who did not object.  

"They're wonderful people," Kane said. "They've obviously been devastated with the loss of their son and nephew and brother."

Kane said he reviewed Rivera's prison record and letters sent by Rivera and others on his behalf. Rivera has completed dozens of rehabilitative programs, become a certified nurse's assistant and serves as a mentor for younger prisoners. He works seven days a week in the infirmary at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers and volunteers in the prison's hospice unit. He has not received any disciplinary "tickets" in a decade.

At Rivera's sentencing in 1995, Kane had recommended the maximum sentence and said, "There doesn't even seem to be a flicker of hope that that which was missing in him at the time he pulled the trigger would be rekindled."

But in the ensuing years, "Sick" appears to have healed himself and devoted himself to helping others.

"Rivera really did seem to undergo significant changes," Kane said. "He finally appeared to have understood the consequences of what he'd done. He was very remorseful."

Kane and Cardwell worked out an agreement and met with New London Judge Hillary B. Strackbein. The judge agreed to resentence Rivera to 44 years in prison after ensuring that he would be monitored by authorities upon his release. The defense waived the statute of limitation, which had long expired for most crimes, and had Rivera plead guilty to a gun charge that carries a three-year probationary term. Rivera's aunt, who lives in New Jersey, has invited him to live with her upon his release, according to court testimony.

When Rivera was brought into the courtroom on May 10, the victim's brother, Noel Morales, a one-time friend of his, was in the gallery. Crying, Rivera turned to Morales and said that one day he hoped the Morales family would forgive him. Morales told Rivera he already had forgiven him. 

"My mother, who goes to church, asked me to forgive him a few years back," Morales said over the phone Thursday. "If it wasn't for my mom, I would have never said what I said."

Morales said he believed that Rivera was truly sorry.

"I saw it in his face," he said.

According to court records, Rivera and Richie Morales both were members of the Latin Kings, which had a more visible presence in the region in the early 1990s. Upon the request of a gang enforcer, Rivera shot Morales in the lobby of the C building at the Thames River apartments because he thought Morales had testified against another fellow gang member.

Morales died of a gunshot wound to the head.

k.florin@theday.com