SYRACUSE -- A Syracuse teenager was sentenced Monday morning after confessing to a murder that he did not commit.
16-year-old Ja-Le Johnson was sentenced in Onondaga County Court to 2-6 years in prison after pleading guilty to criminal facilitation and hindering prosecution. He told police in January that he shot and killed Casimir Snyder, an employee of the Syracuse Department of Public Works, in front of Snyder’s home on Lilac Street. Evidence at the scene pointed to Johnson’s friend, Shawn Rhines, who is the person who actually shot Snyder.
The 16-year-old Rhines pleaded guilty in April to second degree murder for the sniper-style shooting. He is currently serving ten years to life in prison.
