Pair receive 10-20 years in state prison for brutal baseball bat attack, robbery

On Monday morning, Northampton County President Judge Michael J. Koury Jr. heard from the victim of a brutal robbery and from one of the defendants, who in a recorded phone call from jail, said the woman ought to just be thankful she’s still breathing.

The impact from the accounts was evident in the judge’s sentencing, which exceeding recommended guidelines and instead pushed the punishment to the edge of the statutory limit. Koury ensured Junito Velez and Jorge Velasquez — neither of whom had a previous criminal record — will be in state prison for the next 10-20 years.

Following Monday’s sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Alec Colquhoun said he believed the judge’s sentence was “just and appropriate” considering what happened during the daylight attack Dec. 11, 2019.

“The injuries [to the victim] were well in excess of whatever was necessary to rob her of her cellphone,” Colquhoun said. “It was really violence for violence’s sake. They continued to beat her once she was on the ground, defenseless.”

Velez, 20, and Velasquez, 19, pleaded guilty to robbery while inflicting serious bodily injury and aggravated assault. Both men were sentenced to 10-20 years on the robbery charge. Velez, who wielded a baseball bat during the attack, received a 10-20 year sentence for aggravated assault while Velasquez received four to 20 years. The sentences will run concurrently.

The pair admitted to driving around Easton’s College Hill on Dec. 11, 2019, when they chose a person at random to rob. That woman ended up being Christine Cohen, who was chatting on her cellphone on Porter Street, near Parsons Street, while walking to her job at Lafayette College.

Velez, who was 17 at the time, admitted that he hit Cohen in the back of the head with a baseball bat and then continued to beat her once she collapsed to the sidewalk. Velasquez admitted to stomping on her face and head while she was on the ground. One of the men fired a BB gun at her head, the pellet from which remains lodged in her body.

Cohen, who still struggles with nerve damage from the assault, told the court Monday that she also carries mental scars, according to Colquhoun.

Though Cohen expressed a sense of reservation in asking for a harsh sentence in the attack, Colquhoun said he was compelled to share additional evidence that he believed demonstrated a lack of remorse by Velasquez.

During a recorded phone call July 13 that Colquhoun played in court Monday, Velasquez was discussing his plan to take a guilty plea.

“[Expletive] the police, [expletive] the DA, [expletive] the judge,” he said in the phone call. “They can all [expletive] my [expletive]. I don’t care that this is being recorded right now. They can hear it.” He went on to say that he didn’t believe Cohen was “really hurt that bad.”

“She should get over it,” he said, according to a transcript of the call. “The fact that she is even breathing should be enough. She should be happy with that.”

Velasquez also indicated he knew the district attorney’s office was going to push for a higher sentence, but was convinced “he’s not going to get it.”

Colquhoun said that he found the audio shocking and believed it was necessary for the judge to hear before sentencing. One of the things that can be considered during sentencing on such charges is a lack of remorse, Colquhoun said.

“I thought if this doesn’t demonstrate a lack of remorse, I don’t know what does,” he said.