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    Saturday, May 04, 2024

    Mass. woman gets 11 years for role in kidnapping, killing of man found in burning car in Conn.

    A woman has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for her role in the kidnapping and killing of a Massachusetts man whose body was found in a burning car in Hartford in 2020.

    Natasha Garcia, 29, formerly of Chicopee, Mass., faced sentencing Thursday in federal court in Hartford, where a judge ordered her prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

    Garcia’s sentencing came after she previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a Hobbs Act robbery and aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, officials said.

    On Dec. 24, 2020, Garcia lured Francisco Roman Jr. to her Chicopee apartment knowing that Brandon Batiste and Calvin Roberson, who were armed with firearms, were waiting for Roman and intended to kidnap, rob and murder him, according to federal officials.

    Roberson and Batiste kidnapped Roman at gunpoint and threatened to hurt him if didn’t cooperate, officials said. They handcuffed him before stealing cash, marijuana and other unspecified items, according to officials.

    Roberson and Batiste then reportedly forced Roman into his 2010 Acura ZDX and drove to Connecticut with him in the rear of the vehicle, federal officials said. Authorities said Batiste shot and killed Roman during the car ride.

    Roman’s body was left in the vehicle on Shultas Place in Hartford, where the car was found engulfed in flames shortly before 9 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2020, according to officials.

    Federal officials said Roberson and Batiste, after ditching the body, drove a separate car to an apartment in Waterbury that Roberson shared with Shamari Smith. There, they took most of the property stolen during the robbery into the apartment.

    According to officials, Smith lied to investigators about what she knew regarding the robbery and killing and about her role in disposing of the stolen property. After pleading guilty to misprision of a felony, she was sentenced last October to 25 months in prison.

    Batiste and Roberson each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm.

    Batiste was sentenced to 42 years in prison in December. In March, Roberson was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

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