On Thursday, April 6, Strong Island rapper Frenchie was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted by a jury on charges including three counts of first-degree burglary, a violent felony, and one count of second-degree burglary, a violent felony. The 37-year-old recording artist, whose real name is Gregg Hogan, will also serve five years of post-supervision after incarceration, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.
According to Patch.com, Frenchie, 37, and three other men, Donte Thomas, 24, Hakim Muhammad, 20, and Miguel Ruiz, 29, kicked in the front door of a Shirley family to rob them. Armed with guns, the robbers thought the home was a cannabis and money stash house.
They were wrong. Instead of the residence being a trap house, it was the home for a mother, father, and autistic teenage son— all asleep during the home invasion.
The most vicious aspect of the story, according to DA Tierney was that when the men told the family to lie on the ground face down, and the 18-year-old did not listen, one of the men pistol-whipped him. The small child sustained facial cuts and bruises as a result.
The pistol-whipping of an innocent autistic young man in a failed home invasion is among the most outrageous crimes we have prosecuted. Hopefully, this defendant’s conviction and significant prison sentence provides the victims with some sense of relief and security,” said the DA.
The prosecution argued Frenchie not only broke into the house but served as the getaway driver.
The defense had a different story.
His attorney Anthony Scheller said, “He was sitting in the car.”
“I argued to [Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei] that he didn’t tie anyone up, he didn’t have a gun, he didn’t pistol whip anybody,” Scheller said after the sentencing.
Scheller hinted that his client is looking to appeal.
