Fugitive’s return nets redemption, lands jail time
The journey from fugitive gunman to confessed criminal took Freddy Guerra nearly 26 years — and one trip back to Queens.
The 44-year-old armed robber gave his daughter a reassuring wink Thursday before settling his longstanding legal debts when Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron handed him a jail term of 4-to-12 years for a 1992 holdup.
“He knew he had to face the music,” defense attorney Peter Batalla said after the melancholy homecoming.
Guerra’s last Queens court appearance came in December 1992, when he pleaded guilty to the shooting of hardware store owner Lieb Zaban.
Guerra and a 14-year-old accomplice held up Zaban’s store, fleeing with an armful of spray paint cans and a fistful of cash, officials said.
Guerra shot Zaban in the chin during the holdup, although the businessman survived until 2015, when he died at the age of 91.
Guerra, then 18, was released on a $50,000 bond and fled to the Dominican Republic, where he remained until last month.
The fugitive decided to come back stateside and finally take responsibility for his actions, according to his attorney.
“He walked voluntarily into the Dominican Republic consulate, knowing full well they were going to run his name,” said Batalla.
Guerra’s daughter, who lives in Texas and asked to remain anonymous, delivered an emotional appeal to the sentencing judge where she vouched for her dad’s transformation over the last two decades from teen gunman to grandfather-in-waiting.
“While I can not vouch for Freddy at age 19, I can with the utmost certainty state that he can and would not do harm to any person around him since I have known him,” his daughter wrote to the judge.
“I am proud to have Freddy be the grandfather of my unborn child, and that would not be so if I truly believed he could ever be anything less than the upstanding man I know him to be.”
Guerra was arrested on May 22, upon landing at JFK Airport. His sentence, recommended by Queens prosecutors, was a reduction from the 6-to-8 years imposed in absentia one year after the shooting.
After serving his time, Guerra intends to stay in the U.S. and spend time with his daughter, grandchild and parents.