Convicted hit man denied early release from prison

BRIDGEPORT — A former hit man, serving 120 years in prison for two murders and an attempted murder, won’t be going home any time soon.

Following a hearing Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Alex Hernandez denied a sentence modification to Caesar “Yellow” O’Neil that would have allowed O’Neil to be immediately released from prison.

“I’m not denying any responsibility, I’m sorry for my acts,” O’Neil told the judge. “I want to go home.”

In the early 1990s, O’Neil was considered the most dangerous man in the city.

Known as Yellow on the street, he was a hit man for a Jamaican drug gang called The Rats and had made the FBI’s top 10 fugitive list. Convicted in 1997 of two murders, an attempted murder and ordering the murder of a witness against him, he was sentenced to 120 years in prison.

Jennifer Rodriguez, whose father, Rafael Rodriguez, was killed by O’Neill, broke into tears as she urged the judge not to release O’Neil.

“I grew up with the comfort that the man who committed such an awful crime would never get out of prison,” Rodriguez said. “Our community remains safe as long as he is in prison.”

O’Neil’s lawyer, Emma Rotondo, told the judge her client was 16 when he was accused of the murders. She said while in prison, he earned his high school degree and began a program mentoring other inmates.

“This was not the impetuosity of youth,” Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney C. Robert Satti Jr. said of O’Neil’s crimes. “He was a hit man for a group. He does not deserve any reduction in his sentence.”

Judge Hernandez agreed that O’Neil appeared to have made progress towards rehabilitation while in prison but added, “You murdered two people in cold blood, it was deliberate violent actions which injured innocent passersby on the streets of Bridgeport. Reducing these sentences in any way would send the wrong message to the community.”

Because of a recent law, O’Neil will be eligible for a parole hearing in 2027.