3 Sentenced For 2019 Hostage Situation In Providence

PROVIDENCE, RI — Three men pleaded no contest to charges stemming from a 2019 home invasion and hostage situation in superior court. The trio was accused of holding a family hostage in their Providence home for hours on March 19, 2019.

Jose Rodriguez, 33, of Warwick pleaded no contest to burglary, using a firearm during a crime of violence, possessing a pistol without a license, conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of three pistols following a prior conviction. Rodriguez was declared a "habitual offender" and was sentenced to 60 years in prison with 50 to serve at the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston. Of that, 20 cannot be paroled, as well as an additional 30-year suspended sentence.

Pedro Gomez, 29, of Cranston, pleaded guilty to the same charges as Rodriguez and was sentenced to 50 years in prison at the ACI with 30 to serve and the remainder suspended.

The third defendant, 24-year-old Andre Savage of Providence, pleaded no contest to burglary, using a firearm while committing a crime and possession of three pistols following a prior conviction. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with 25 to serve.

"These defendants are precisely the kind of individuals who deserve, and who are receiving, our most focused law enforcement efforts," Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said. "They, and others like them, drive violent crime in our state. The long sentences imposed yesterday are entirely warranted, and Rhode Islanders are safer as a result."

On the day of the home invasion, the three men broke into the second floor of the home around 1 a.m. Domingo Bonilla, one of the family members at home at the time, was pushed to the ground as the trio threatened to shoot him if he didn't keep his head down. They then pistol-whipped him, demanding to know where the drugs were kept in the house. Bonilla insisted that there were no drugs in the home, and police later determined that the three men likely targeted the wrong house.

The trio then brought Bonilla to the bedroom, where they forced him onto the bed and hit Maria Castro, another occupant of the home. Their 22-year-old son was able to escape the house and called 911.

After several hours of negotiation, the three men allowed Castro and their grandson to leave the apartment. Inside the house, police rescued the pair, along with Bonilla. The three men were arrested, and their weapons were confiscate from their hiding spot in a closet.