A criminal who was on the lam in Jamaica for more than a decade after killing a teenager in a Bushwick drug turf war will have to serve life in prison.
A jury found Michael Keating, 45, guilty of killing 16-year-old John Eric Ogaldez during an argument over drug-dealing boundaries in 1997. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus sentenced Keating, who had been hiding out in Bull Bay, Jamaica, to 25 years to life on Monday for his conviction on the second-degree murder charge.
“The defendant was on the run for over 10 years thinking he got away with murder and cowardly living his life on the island of Jamaica,” said Brooklyn district attorney Ken Thompson. “With this long prison sentence, the defendant will have plenty of time to think about the lives he destroyed, including his own.”
In September of 1997, Keating was a 27-year-old drug dealer who claimed part of Bushwick as his turf. He got into an argument with a rival slinger, accusing him of trying to take over his corners. He fired shots at his foe and then shot Ogaldez, who was there with his friend, in the back and stomach, according to the district attorney’s office.
Keating left Ogaldez to die between two parked cars and fled to Jamaica. The U.S. government extradited him back to Brooklyn in 2013.
