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Students at Patchogue-Medford High School Ponder Jeffrey Conroy’s 25-Year Sentence

Posted June 3, 2010 by Ted Hesson

Before Justice Robert W. Doyle sentenced Jeffrey Conroy to 25 years in prison on May 26 for stabbing and killing Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero, the prosecution requested that Conroy be given the maximum sentence—which he was given—partially to deter other teens from participating in “beaner hopping” attacks.

With that in mind, I interviewed students from Patchogue-Medford High School at dismissal on June 2, gauging their opinions about the trial and whether or not they thought the verdict would prevent future hate crimes.*

Of the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors interviewed, the majority said that the sentence would make teens think twice before engaging in similar attacks.

According to Travis, a 15-year-old sophomore from Patchogue, the sentence was appropriate: Conroy killed someone, he should pay the penalty.

“Marcelo Lucero is not coming back to life,” he said. “I believe [Conroy] killed a man; he deserves what he gets for murder or manslaughter.”

I asked Travis if he thought the sentence would help deter other teens from committing hate crimes.

“There’s a good chance that’s why they [gave Conroy the 25-year sentence],” he said. “To make an example out of him. I mean, this stuff can’t be tolerated.”

Sandra, a 15-year-old sophomore and friend of the Conroy family, said that she thought the sentence was already having an effect on students who might get into fights.

“I know a lot of people are backing off,” she said. “I guess they’ll think of the 25-year sentence before they do anything.’

But while most students thought the sentence would help prevent future crimes, opinions on the verdict, and immigration in general, varied greatly.

Lucas, a 15-year-old freshman from Patchogue and another friend of the Conroy family, thought that Conroy’s sentence should have been shorter, since the victim was reportedly an undocumented immigrant—a detail that appeared to be more of an assumption by the teenager rather than an assertion of fact.

“I didn’t really think that [Conroy] should have gotten in so much trouble,” Lucas said. “If [Marcelo Lucero] wasn’t here illegally, it never would have happened…I honestly don’t like how there’s a lot of illegal Spanish people here,” he continued.

According to Lucas, Latinos and other students don’t get along in the school, and the language difference is part of the problem. He suspected that Spanish-speaking students were sometimes talking about him and laughing.

“Black and white, there’s not a problem,” he said. “It seems like the Mexicans, the Spanish, don’t want to be associated with all of us.”

Lucas wasn’t the only student who viewed the Lucero killing differently because of the known or perceived immigration status of the victim.

Kevin, a 17-year-old senior—who told me after a short interview that he was intoxicated—thought that immigration status should impact a person’s legal rights. Although it was only 2:30pm and he was leaving school, I believed him when he said that he’d been drinking, since he was slurring his words.

“Yes, I know it sounds cruel,” he said. “But I think there is a difference between someone who is legal and illegal.”

Kevin stopped short of saying that the Lucero killing should be excused.

“I don’t think he should die, but he should either be kicked out of here or somehow punished,” he said. “Rules are rules, you know.”

I asked Kevin where he got his ideas about immigrants and immigration.

“I guess I learned it at home,” he said. “It’s not really something that’s hard to learn.”

Apart from their thoughts about the Conroy sentence, several students spoke of racial and ethnic intolerance in Pat-Med High School, intolerance that surfaced as off-color comments in the hallways and racist graffiti in the boy’s bathroom.

Thomas, a 16-year-old sophomore whose family came to Patchogue from Ecuador, said that about once a week he heard derogatory comments or jokes directed at Latinos, especially Latinos who primarily spoke Spanish.

“I see that it happens to other people, but I never experience it,” he said. “They call [Latino students] names; they say ‘border hopper.’”

Thomas said that he had heard other students tell jokes about “Mexicans.” He spoke of a hallway near the school library where Spanish-speaking Latino students usually hang out, and how he had heard slurs directed at those students.

Thomas said that his friends “don’t say things like that.” I asked him whether he had ever told his parents about the comments that were aimed at other Latino students.

“No,” he said. “I keep it to myself.”


*I’ve changed the names of all students mentioned in this blog post.

Tags : hate crimes, jeffrey conroy, marcelo lucero, medford, patchogue, patchogue-medford high school, suffolk

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