No jail for suspects in Port Richmond gunpoint robbery

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Prosecutors decided to cut their losses and not seek a third trial for two men accused of a gunpoint robbery in the Port Richmond home of an acquaintance almost three years ago.

Dwayne Montague, 31, and Travis Simon, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief.

The Brooklyn residents were each sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge under their plea agreements.

The pleas came just weeks after the defendants’ second trial resulted in a hung jury. The first trial last year had a similar outcome.

Montague and Simon potentially faced between five and 25 years in prison, had they been convicted at trial of first-degree robbery or first-degree burglary, the top counts against them.

"After two hung juries, we had serious doubts that we could prove the case, particularly because of the problematic identification of the suspects," said Peter N. Spencer, spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. "We decided this disposition was in the best interest of justice, and the judge agreed."

Authorities accused the defendants of forcing their way into a home on the 200 block of Park Avenue on Nov. 20, 2008.

An 18-year-old woman and a 64-year-old man were home at the time.

Court papers allege the suspects pistol-whipped the teen and threatened to kill her father. The pair then rummaged through the home, stealing Louis Vuitton bags, diamond earrings and a diamond ring, police allege.

Montague and Simon were charged with multiple felony robbery and burglary counts, along with lesser charges.

Robert DePalma, Simon’s lawyer, said today there were no fingerprints, DNA or other physical evidence linking the defendants to the crime. Witnesses also gave conflicting statements, he said. And records showed his client’s cell phone was used in the area of Mount Vernon in Westchester County around the time of the incident.

DePalma said the defendants’ criminal mischief plea related to a prior incident in which mirrors were broken on the woman’s car.

"It had nothing to do with the home invasion," he said.

"Two separate juries rejected the district attorney’s arguments," said Montague’s lawyer, Mark J. Fonte, today. "All charges relating to the home invasion have now been dismissed