BRONX TEENAGER SENTENCED TO MAXIMUM TERM OF UP TO TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT IN THE STABBING DEATH OF ANOTHER YOUTH AT EDGEWATER PARK IN 1998

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that 19 year old Louis Marino received the maximum term of 3 1/3 to 10 years imprisonment for stabbing a 22 year old Bronx man to death in Edgewater Park following a Labor Day party in 1998.

Sentence was imposed by Acting State Supreme Court Justice John S. Moore.

Marino, of 3103 Miles Avenue, the Bronx, was convicted last January of Manslaughter in the 1st degree in the death of James "Jamie" Warfel. Marino, who committed the crime two weeks before his 16th birthday, was sentenced as a youthful offender. Had the stabbing occurred on or after the defendant’s birthday, he would have been eligible for a maximum sentence of up to 25 years imprisonment.

The fatal stabbing occurred in the early morning hours of September 6, 1998, following the conclusion of a Labor Day celebration held in Edgewater Park in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx. As Warfel walked past a group of people someone yelled out "Jamie is gay." Warfel responded by turning to confront the group in an effort to find out who had called him gay. Witnesses testified that the defendant, Marino, admitted making the statement while at the same time grabbing the victim by the shirt collar and breaking his necklace in the process. As the two men struggled, Marino pulled a knife that he had been carrying and stabbed Warfel once in the chest.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Assistant District Attorney Theresa Gottlieb.