Tells judge he meant to rob his mom
Jefferson Siegel for New York Daily News
John Martinez faces a maximum term of life behind bars for four Manhattan assaults.A cold-blooded mugger who brandished an ice pick at his East Side victims was sentenced to at least 18 years in prison Tuesday.
Career stick-up artist John Martinez, 40, faces a maximum term of life behind bars for four Manhattan assaults last year, including attacks on two mothers with their young children inside their Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment buildings.
Before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon handed down the stiff sentence, Martinez offered up a bizarre excuse for his behavior.
"I never meant to rob them. I thought I was robbing my mom," Martinez said.
"I apologize to the people, the victims," he added. "I hope one day I get help."
Martinez's Legal Aid lawyer, Liz Beal, said her client, who attacked only women, has serious mental health issues.
She said his mother lives in New Jersey — not in Stuyvesant Town or Peter Cooper Village, the scenes of November and December 2010 attacks.
Prosecutors read a statement by one of Martinez's still terrified victims - none of whom appeared in court for his sentencing.
"When he looked at my 3-year-old son and threatened to stab him, I thought he was capable of stabbing my little boy," Assistant District Attorney James Zaleta said as he read the woman's statement in court.
The woman said Martinez tried to force his way inside her apartment but she managed to give him the slip. She said her son still sees a psychologist and she has flashbacks.
"We're Jewish and he robbed us on the first day of Hanukkah," the victim wrote.
In a negotiated plea, Martinez, who was first convicted of robbery in 1992, admitted to attempted robbery and burglary charges and returned two stolen diamond rings.
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