CONCOURSE — A man convicted of assault was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after skipping his court hearing and taunting the prosecutor on Instagram, according to the Bronx District Attorney.
Ronald DeJesus Plaza, 25, was due in court to be sentenced for a June 2014 assault against a stranger leaving a nightclub on Aqueduct Avenue in Kingsbridge, in which he punched his victim in the face, broke his nose and slashed his face several times while another man, who was not caught, held the victim and stabbed him in the back several times, officials said.
The victim got nearly two dozen staples and stitches to his face and head.
Plaza turned himself in about two weeks after the attack.
After a two-week-long trial, Plaza failed to appear in court when the jury started deliberating his case on Dec. 4, and took to Instagram over that weekend to taunt Assistant District Attorney Karl Miller, a prosecutor on the case, by posting a picture of two bottles of high-end rum with the caption "Salute Mr. Miller this is a good rum."
A bench warrant was issued for Plaza's arrest, and he has an open arrest warrant in Westchester County as well for failing to show up in court on an attempted murder case, according to the DA's office.
He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison on Wednesday after being convicted on two counts of first degree assault.
