A Guyanese hit-man, who was paid to kill a fellow countryman in the United States, is set to be freed in August, having only served a portion of his sentence.
Camuldeen Allie, 35, had been serving 15 years to life behind bars for gunning down Vernon “Dilly” Peter, 43, in July 1993 in exchange for US$7000 and is set to be freed thanks to a “sweetheart deal” he worked out with federal prosecutors, the New York Post reported. The slaying was part of an infamous scheme in which four unsuspecting members of the Guyanese community were killed so that their beneficiaries could collect life-insurance payments.
The NY Post reported that after Allie turned star witness against two co-conspirators – Queens insurance agent Richard James, 46, and Ronald Mallay, 61- in the federal racketeering case, helping to convict them, authorities paved the way for his release.
Allie is now set to walk out of prison a free man in August after having served only a fraction of his maximum sentence — and also will escape deportation back to Guyana with his government-approved green card in hand, the newspaper reported.
Friends of his victim, Peter, were outraged. “That’s just not fair,” said Patricia Sewnanan, 34, who lives in Woodside, where Peter also resided. “I mean, Vernon was a good guy, and this guy does [17] years and then he can still go on with his life”, he told the NY Post.
James’s lawyer, Steve Zissou, also flayed Allie’s release. “For anybody else, [federal] agents would have a detainer already filed against him and he would be deported,” Zissou said.
The US Attorney’s Office declined comment.
Allie had initially been denied parole in 2008, even after cutting his deal with the feds.
According to the Post, he then promptly whined to federal Judge Sterling Johnson, who had overseen his trial, that he was being double-crossed by the government. “I helped bring justice to a situation in which . . . people lost their lives,” he insisted in a letter to Johnson.
He was finally approved for parole June 6 and is slated to leave the Woodbourne prison on August 3.
