Judge refuses to impose plea bargain in councilwoman assault case

BRIDGEPORT — A man accused of beating a former city councilwoman because she wouldn’t return his phone calls won’t be getting a suspended sentence after all.

In a rare move, as Sherman Perry was standing before him prepared to get the lenient term Friday afternoon, Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo decided he couldn’t impose the plea bargain.

“After reading the PSI (pre-sentence investigation report) the court is no longer comfortable with the recommendation,” the judge told Perry. “I have made the determination that the agreed upon sentence is no longer fair and reasonable.”

Both Senior Assistant State’s Attorney David Applegate and Perry’s lawyer, Frank Riccio II, told the judge they will now prepare for a trial.

The judge continued the case to Dec. 30.

Sherman Perry, 46, the founder of Men’s Community Empowerment Group, previously pleaded guilty before Russo to reduced charges of second-degree assault and violating a protective order after the victim, former East End Councilwoman Eneida Martinez, supported Perry going free.

Under the plea bargain, Perry was to receive a sentence of a suspended 10-year term, followed by five years of probation.

Martinez’s lawyer, John R. Gulash, told the judge that his client had supported the plea bargain. Unlike the plea hearing, Martinez was not in the courtroom Friday.

Riccio and Gulash declined comment as they left the Fairfield County Courthouse.

Perry had been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and first-degree reckless endangerment in connection with the assault on Feb. 22, 2018. He was later arrested again after police said Perry was found working as a bouncer at the club Martinez managed.

Martinez was severely beaten in the face, head and shoulders and spent a week in Bridgeport Hospital.

Police said Martinez and

Perry had been involved in a relationship but she had stopped taking his calls. They said that on the day of the incident, Perry had gone to Martinez’s home to confront her. The two began to argue, police said, and Perry, who is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 280 pounds, then began punching Martinez.

Police said Perry kept punching Martinez until she fell onto the floor and then may have kicked her while she lay there. Perry has a history of assaulting women, police said, and has been convicted of assault, manslaughter, and drug sales.

Police said on Sept. 27, 2020, detectives were reviewing video from the Keystone Club on Barnum Avenue in an investigation of a fatal shooting that occurred there when they said they spotted Perry working as a bouncer at the front door of the club. They said the video also showed Perry in the back of the club with Martinez in violation of the initial protective order to stay away from her.

Martinez, the manager of the former strip clubturned-social club, was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and 10 counts of illegally selling alcohol in connection with the operation of the club. She is awaiting trial.

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