Where is keith mondello now

Ever since George Floyd died while in police custody this spring, there has been increased attention paid to racial justice issues in the media.

One of the white men involved in the killing was Keith Mondello, who served jail time for his involvement. Mondello did not participate in the making of HBO's documentary, leaving viewers to wonder, where is Keith Mondello now? The story of Yusuf Hawkins is a tragic one. On the evening of August 23, , a year-old Black boy from East New York named Yusuf Hawkins and three of his friends, all of whom were also Black, took the subway to the south Brooklyn neighborhood of Bensonhurst to have a look at a used car that was for sale.

According to the documentary, Bensonhurst was a largely Italian American enclave with a relatively small minority population. Unbeknownst to Hawkins at the time was that a group of between 10 and 30 white male teenagers had gathered in the neighborhood with baseball bats and other weapons. They had allegedly been rounded up by Keith Mondello , 18, though accounts differ as to why. A report on the incident from The New York Times lists two possibilities.

Chaos ensued following Hawkins' murder, spurring a series of protest marches through Bensonhurst led by Hawkins' family, friends, and civil rights leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton — who became a spokesperson for the Hawkins family in the wake of the teen's death. Following the riot that killed Hawkins, Mondello was charged with murder along with manslaughter, rioting, menacing, racial discrimination and criminal possession of a weapon, among other charges, according to the New York Daily News in The person who shot Hawkins was identified by prosecutors as Joseph Fama, who surrendered after a week on the run and was also charged in Hawkins' murder.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Burns said Mondello was ''the instigator and organizer'' of the group and admitted having a bat, despite denying shooting Hawkins, the Daily News reported. Ultimately Mondello was acquitted in Hawkins' killing, but was convicted on multiple counts of riot, unlawful imprisonment, menacing, discrimination, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to a New York Times bulletin.

Fama, meanwhile, was convicted of murdering Hawkins. However, Justice Thaddeus Owens sentenced Mondello to the harshest one allowed under the law at the time: Five and one-third years to 16 years in prison. Owens also ruled the teenager would not be able to be paroled until he served out the full five and one-third years minimum sentence, according to the Washington Post. Mondello, there wouldn't have been the death of anyone," Owens said during sentencing.

Fama was sentenced to over 30 years in prison following his murder conviction — where he remains today. Fama maintains he did not shoot Hawkins. Mondello was released in after serving eight years in prison and soon after met with Hawkins' father, Moses Stewart, in a private meeting documented by NY1 News.

Mondello was reticent to speak on camera about the meeting but told NY1 he apologized to Stewart and Hawkins' family for his actions during the meeting.

As if this was not already the cherry on top of the cake, he only served 8 years at the Attica Correctional Facility. While in jail, he turned to religion for answers. Mondello was paroled in He knows he can never make up for that night, and that he will always have to live with it. With a degree in sociology from St.

Francis College, Mondello aspired to become a social worker or a teacher. However, he said that due to financial constraints, he had to get a job in the city. He now lives in Staten Island and has a daughter. He knows one day will come where he will have to explain this tragic incident to his daughter. Until then, he will use that night as a guiding force to remind himself about how other people have it even tougher than him.