Convicted Murderers Get Sentence Reduced

Jewel Palma

Two men charged for the 2009 murder of fifty-nine-year-old Taiwanese businessman Tsong Ming Liou, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on September twenty-sixth.  On Friday, the duo, thirty-two-year-old Jewel Palma and twenty-six-year-old Oscar Maldonado had their sentence reduced from sixteen years behind bars to eight months in jail by Justice Colin Williams. Justice Williams considered that the two men pleaded guilty, saving the court’s time. He also considered that Maldonado was a minor when he committed the crime. According to court records, Justice Williams noted that Maldonado and Palma were allowed to have their sentence reduced by a one-third of the sixteen years. This brings us to one hundred and twenty-eight months.

Oscar Maldonado

But their sentence was further reduced by six months after Justice Williams considered mitigating factors, leaving the duo with one hundred and twenty-two months to serve. Since Maldonado and Palma had already served one hundred and fourteen months in jail, that amount was subtracted leaving the men with eight more months to serve.  Liou, who owned Bachelor Inn, was viciously beaten and stabbed to death when he refused to hand over cash demanded by four robbers.