CANANDAIGUA — One of two men accused of torturing someone during a home invasion in Geneva has been sentenced to a long prison term — and he still faces a murder charge in another county.
Eddie Marte, 26, of Rockland County, was sentenced Tuesday by Ontario County Judge Brian Dennis to 15 years in prison. Marte pleaded guilty in December to charges of burglary, kidnapping, robbery, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Marte and Malik Weems, 19, of Pennsylvania, were arrested by Geneva police in April 2021 following what police Chief Mike Passalacqua called a “crazy” case. They were accused of holding a man at gunpoint, beating him with belts and cords, punching and kicking him, and burning him with a knife. Passalacqua and prosecutors have declined to say where the incident took place until the cases are settled.
District Attorney Jim Ritts said a trial for Weems is pending.
Passalacqua called the case a “direct, targeted attack.” The victim went to Geneva General Hospital on his own, where he was treated and released but did not report the incident until the following day.
A Geneva man, Thomas J. Ferraro, also was arrested in the case. He was charged with felony drug possession; his case is pending.
Marte, Weems and Thomas Bovaird of Horseheads, Chemung County, also face charges of murder, kidnapping, and assault in the death of a New York City man in 2021. State police believe the man was kidnapped and tortured in the Elmira area and his body dumped in northern Pennsylvania.
Passalacqua said state police helped with the identities of Marte and Weems through the state police probe in the Southern Tier case. Police have declined to say if the cases are connected.
As part of the Geneva investigation, city police and the Ontario County sheriff’s office SWAT team searched a city residence and two vehicles after obtaining a warrant. Passalacqua said police seized two handguns (one reported stolen), about a pound of crystal methamphetamine, 1.4 pounds of heroin, 1 ounce of suspected cocaine, and about $5,000. He said the street value of the drugs was about $75,000.
“That was the biggest quantity of heroin I have ever seen in one of our arrests,” Passalacqua said at the time.
Ritts said assistant district attorneys Peter VanDellon, Meghan Maslyn, and Kaitlyn Hastings are prosecuting the cases against Marte, Weems, and Ferraro.
