A teenager convicted of aiding in the near-fatal stabbing of another teenager at The Mall in Columbia this year was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison in Howard County Circuit Court.
Cordero Dante Taylor, 17, of Forestville in Prince George's County, was convicted last month of first-degree assault after a co-defendant, Bernardo Leconte, 18, stabbed a 17-year-old Baltimore County boy, Julian Lichtenstein, several times in the mall parking lot after a drug deal went bad. Taylor was tried as an adult.
Although Taylor did not stab Lichtenstein, Maryland law states that aiding and abetting in such an assault brings equal responsibility to involved parties.
"What makes this offense terrible ... first and foremost is just the horrific injuries Mr. Lichtenstein suffered," Circuit Judge Richard Bernhardt said in court yesterday as he announced his sentence.
According to prosecutors and witness testimony, Lichtenstein had arranged to sell marijuana to Taylor and Leconte outside the JCPenney department store about 4:30 p.m. Jan. 8. After an argument over the quality of the drugs, Leconte pulled out a serrated knife with a 4- to 6-inch blade. During Taylor's trial, Lichtenstein testified that he punched Leconte in the face while Taylor stood nearby.
Although accounts of what happened next differ, the judge concluded during the trial that Taylor struck Lichtenstein to keep him from leaving the fight and that Taylor followed Leconte as he chased Lichtenstein and watched as Leconte stabbed the teen while he lay in the grass.
Lichtenstein was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he stayed for a month. In addition to several other significant injuries, part of one of his kidneys was cut off, prosecutors said.
"It's difficult for me to understand where in this society that knife has an appropriate role," Bernhardt said, noting the large blade and serrations.
During the trial, Bernhardt granted a motion to dismiss the other charges against Taylor, which included attempted first- and second-degree murder.
Although Taylor could have faced 25 years in prison for the assault conviction, state sentencing guidelines suggest five to 12 years. Prosecutors Susan Weinstein and James Dietrich suggested a minimum 12-year sentence, but Bernhardt imposed 25 years with all but 15 years suspended.
