Jets owner Woody Johnson says he's 'extremely happy' to have QB Geno Smith

Published May 07, 2013

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA –  New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is "extremely happy" to have Geno Smith on his team, and looks forward to a "fun" quarterback competition.

Johnson, speaking to reporters at an NFL symposium Tuesday, says the team gave Smith a "very high score" while scouting him and the former West Virginia star is "welcome to the competition." The Jets have said Smith will compete this summer with Mark Sanchez, David Garrard and the team's other quarterbacks for the starting job.

Smith, considered by many to be a first-round talent, slid to the Jets in the second round with the 39th overall selection in the draft.

Johnson says having Tim Tebow, cut last week after one disappointing season in New York, wasn't a perfect fit "or he would still be here."

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NY gym owner gets prison for murder conspiracy

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  Dee Snider, lead singer of the rock band Twisted Sister, stands with his wife Suzette Snider outside U.S. District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Wednesday, April 24, 2013. The couple attended the sentencing of a man convicted of conspiracy and murder in the deaths of Suzette Snider's brother and two other men.(AP Photo/Frank Eltman)The Associated Press

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  Dee Snider, lead singer of the rock band Twisted Sister, stands with his wife Suzette Snider outside U.S. District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Wednesday, April 24, 2013. The couple attended the sentencing of a man convicted of conspiracy and murder in the deaths of Suzette Snider's brother and two other men. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman)The Associated Press

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CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. –  A New York businessman was sentenced Wednesday to three life terms in prison following his conviction on murder and conspiracy charges in the deaths of three men, including the brother-in-law of "Twisted Sister" lead singer Dee Snider.

Christian Tarrantino, 46, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, insisted he was innocent of the crimes before being sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert. His attorney has said he will appeal the convictions.

Federal prosecutors said Tarantino, who owned several fitness clubs on Long Island, had previously been convicted of murder for his involvement in the 1994 killing of an armored car driver during a robbery. A suspected associate in the robbery was later killed by Tarantino and dumped in the Atlantic Ocean, prosecutors said.

Tarantino was convicted of murder conspiracy in the 2003 death of Snider's brother-in-law. Prosecutors said Vincent Gargiulo was killed on Tarantino's orders after Gargiulo, a former business partner of Tarantino's, threatened to reveal his friend's involvement in the two earlier killings.

Prosecutors said Gargiulo told Tarantino he had secretly tape-recorded him admitting his role in the 1994 case. Gargiulo was shot in the face in August 2003 as he walked to work at a construction site Manhattan. Several months later, Gargiulo's tape recording was anonymously mailed to NYPD homicide detectives.

Snider, who sat in the back row of the crowded courtroom with his wife Suzette and other relatives, accompanied his wife to the podium when she addressed the judge about the loss of her brother.

"Vinnie thought Chris was his friend," Suzette Snider said. "Vinnie would have died for Chris and it's ironic because Vinnie did die because of Chris."

Relatives of the armored car driver, Julius Baumgardt, also spoke before the sentencing was imposed, noting they have waited nearly 20 years for justice.

A jury convicted Tarantino in 2011 in the 1994 murders of Baumgardt — the armored car driver — and subsequent killing of Louis Dorval, who was an accomplice in the holdup killed because Tarantino feared he would go to the police, prosecutors said. The jury in that trial deadlocked over whether Tarantino was guilty in the death of Gargiulo, but he was convicted of conspiring to kill Gargiulo in a retrial in May 2012.

Tarantino, who had supporters speak on his behalf urging leniency, spoke briefly after the victims' relatives expressed their desire for him to suffer in prison. As his arms shook from the apparent effects of the Parkinson's disease, Tarantino assured them: "Talk about suffering? You can count on it. I am." He added: "I feel sorry for the families (of the victims). I am going through my own personal hell, which I am sure will make you happy."

Seybert said it was clear to her that Tarantino was not remorseful, calling him, "violent, cruel, cunning person who chose to commit these crimes."

The prison sentences will run concurrently.

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SUV in fatal crash that left 6 teens dead was stolen, owner says

WARREN, Ohio –  Investigators on Monday tried to piece together what eight teenagers crammed into a stolen sport utility vehicle were up to before the vehicle flipped over into a pond, killing six of them.

Authorities gave few details on where the group of friends had been and why they were out around daybreak Sunday, speeding down a two-lane road. On Monday, the SUV's owner met with police and filed a stolen-car report; police said none of the teens was related to the owner or had asked to use the vehicle.

Whether all the teens knew the SUV was stolen wasn't clear. Neither was their whereabouts before the crash.

While the father of one of the dead said the teenagers were coming home from a sleepover at a friend's house, the mother of another boy killed said that her son and his best friend had lied about staying over at each other's homes that evening. She said she thinks they went to a party.

"If only he had listened," said Lisa Williamson, mother of 14-year-old Brandon Murray. "I told him, `Don't you go nowhere.' But they're kids."

The SUV hit a guardrail in an industrial section of town and landed upside down in about 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water, filling up within minutes, State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt said. Five boys and a young woman, ages 14 to 19, were killed.

Two boys smashed a rear window, wriggled out of the wreckage and swam away, then ran 400 meters to a home to call for help, authorities said. Brian Henry, 18, and Asher Lewis, 15, suffered only minor injuries.

Investigators said they believe excessive speed was a key factor in the crash. Authorities did not say how fast the SUV was going. They were also awaiting the results of drug and alcohol tests.

All eight teenagers were from Warren, a mostly blue-collar city of 41,000 near the Pennsylvania line, east of Cleveland.

Five of the dead were trapped inside the sunken SUV. A sixth was thrown from the vehicle and was found underneath it when it was taken out of the water.

State police identified them as the 19-year-old driver, Alexis Cayson; Andrique Bennett, 14; Brandon Murray, 14; and Kirklan Behner, Ramone White and Daylan Ray, all 15. Cayson, Murray and Ray drowned, the coroner said. Autopsies on the others were incomplete.

"All I know is my baby is gone," said Derrick Ray, who came to the crash site after viewing Daylan's body at the morgue. He said he knew that his son, a football player who was looking forward to playing in high school, was out with friends, but didn't know their plans.

None of the teens in the five-seat 1998 Honda Passport was wearing a seat belt, state police said.

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