Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Continuing the crime theme from this morning’s post…

Jesse Wasserman (a.k.a. The Boarding School Bandit) was sentenced to 16 months in prison yesterday for his role in a string of armed muggings in Central Park last summer.

The Daily News reports the “preppie punk got a break” with the 16 month sentence — he faced up to four years in prison. While his co-defendant, Alex Greene (charges still pending) is accused of pointing a .357 Magnum at the duo’s various victims, Wasserman had previously plead guilty to robbery for his role in rifling through their victims’ pockets. Per The News:

“I am very sorry for what happened to these innocent victims,” the scruffily bearded Wasserman told [Judge] Farber. “I was not in my right mind.”

Wassserman, who had no prior criminal record, was granted “youthful offender” status and his record will be sealed upon his release from prison. His lawyers claim he suffers from “psychiatric problems.”

Not everyone was content with the sentence.

The Post reports that Lynn Jawitz, mother of teenage victim Barry Weinstein, attended the sentencing on behalf of her son, who found it too “emotionally difficult” to be there himself. Per The Post:

“As far as I’m concerned, the guy’s a terrorist… He’s no less a terrorist than the guy who held the gun.

The News quotes Jawitz as saying: “But for the grace of God, I could have had a dead kid.”

Wasserman is the son of well-known psychotherapist Stacy Berrin-Wasserman, of New Rochelle. He was dubbed the “Boarding School Bandit” due to his brief stint at the prestigious $42,500-a-year Vermont Academy. Some reports say he was kicked out, while others say he dropped out.

Filed under: Central Park, Crime, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 1 Comment »
Tags: 357 magnum, Alex Greene, Armed Robbery, Barry Weinstein, Boarding School Bandit, Central Park, Crime, gun, Jesse Wasserman, Lynn Jawitz, Mugging, New York City, NYC, NYPD, Stacy Berrin-Wasserman, Upper West Side, UWS