2 Parsippany Men Sentenced To Jail In 2019 Homicide Of Roomate

PARSIPPANY, NJ – Two Parsippany men were sentenced to prison and jail time on Thursday following the death of their roommate during a drunken fight last fall.

Rogelio Laureano-Gonzalez, 26, was sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter last month. Laureano-Gonzalez also pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension after he killed Jaime Lopez- Basilio during an argument at their apartment last September, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday.

Cirilo Rojas-Paulino, 26, was sentenced on Friday to 291 days time served as a condition of two years probation after he traveled to California with his roommate to evade police. Both of the men were extradited to New Jersey in January.

"The collaborative efforts of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in New Jersey and California brought these defendants to justice," Prosecutor Fredric Knapp said in a news release on Thursday. "We are very thankful to all involved for this successful prosecution and conviction.”

The investigation arose from a September 9 report of a deceased male inside a home in the area of Old Bloomfield Road, Parsippany-Troy Hills. An investigation confirmed that a deceased male’s body was located inside a residence in the area.

Both men are not U.S citizens and are natives of Mexico and likely will face deportation following the sentencing, Judge Stephen Taylor said during Thursday’s hearing, according to The Daily Record.

During the hearing, Laureano-Gonzalez called the killing of his roommate “a mistake” and told his attorney he would seek treatment for his issues with alcohol while in prison. The newspaper reported that Taylor chided Laureno-Gonzalez Thursday for not apologizing for his roommate’s death and characterized his and Rojas-Paulino’s actions as “selfish and heartless.”