Murder-For-Hire Suspect Rejects Plea Offer

A 35-year-old man is awaiting trial after turning down a state offer to admit involvement in a .

Antonio Pena, of Huntington Street, rejected a plea bargain in which he would have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. The sentence under this offer would be 14 years imprisonment, not subject to suspension, with six years of special parole. The period of special parole would have been subject to reduction.

The matter has been put on the trial list, but no proceedings have yet been scheduled.

According to the , Pena was one of three men involved in a plot to kill a 37-year-old man living at 93 State Pier Road. Witnesses told police that Pena and the man used to sell drugs together but that their relationship had soured, with Pena suspecting the man of repeatedly breaking his car windows. A confidential informant said Pena also suspected the man of stealing his drug trafficking business while Pena was in a drug treatment program in New Haven.

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The informant told the Clinton Police Department that he was to be the driver in a plot to kill the man. He said he was to take 27-year-old Gerardo Carillo, of Fawn Hill Road in Westbrook, and 28-year-old Elmer A. Melendez, of Crystal Ave., to 93 State Pier Road early on the morning of Aug. 18 to confront the man as he left for work.

The informant said Melendez was to point a gun at the man while Carillo came up behind him and stabbed him. He said the men then planned to go to Melendez’s residence, change their clothes and the vehicle’s license plate, and burn the clothes they had been wearing. He said Pena promised to pay him $1,000 for involvement in the plot while Melendez was to receive $10,000 and Carillo $5,000.

Police observed the informant, Carillo, and Melendez changing the vehicle’s license plate before driving toward the scene on Aug. 18. They conducted a traffic stop near the intersection of Williams Street and Huntington Street, and a search discovered a handgun and knife in the car.

All three men are charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Carillo and Melendez have additional charges of attempt to commit murder and possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle.

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