She will have no chance for parole. Rogel 'Roger' Suero will be sentenced later this morning.
UPDATE: Rogel "Roger" Suero gets life in prison
Rebecca Johnson, who was involved in the planning of a home invasion that led
to her grandmother's death, was sentenced this morning by Northampton County Judge Paula Roscioli to life in prison
with no chance for parole.
Rogel "Roger" Suero will be sentenced later this morning.
Suero, a native of Venezuela living in Allentown, was found guilty in October on charges of murder in the second degree, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, reckless endangerment and six other charges. The jury found Johnson guilty of the same plus an additional 10 charges.
Suero denied any involvement in the case or that he ever met Carrie Smith. He acknowledged fleeing to Texas after learning he had been charged, but he swore he went into hiding only because he feared being deported.
Johnson was also charged with fleeing and eluding police. When Wilson Borough police went to arrest her, she led authorities on a slow-speed chase around her neighborhood with her then 8-year-old son in the back seat, police said.
Authorities said Johnson plotted to steal $35,000 and jewelry from her grandmother in January 2012 in order to finance a massive marijuana purchase in Colorado. Suero, her then boyfriend, and an unknown accomplice used a key Johnson stole to enter the house, roused the sleeping Smith and forced her to open the safe, Assistant District Attorney Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen said.
Smith, a 76-year-old great-grandmother, suffered a mild heart attack because of the robbery, authorities said. The resulting congestive heart failure combined with her existing pulmonary fibrosis caused her health to decline rapidly as a result, medical experts testified. Smith died March 16, 2012, and Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek and two forensic pathologists linked the robbery to her death.
The prosecution's defense relied on the testimony of David Bechtold, Johnson's 19-year-old cousin and admitted getaway driver in the robbery. Suero and the other accomplice got into the house using a key Johnson stole from her brother, who lived with Smith, Bechtold previously testified.
Johnson paid Bechtold $1,000 to assist in the robbery, and he blew the money on marijuana, cigarettes and Monster energy drinks, he testified.Bechtold was not charged with homicide but faces charges of robbery,
burglary, conspiracy, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault and
others. His trial date has been delayed because of legal challenges
regarding immunity for statements he provided to police and prosecutors.