GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – Two men who were teenagers when they participated in the robbery and fatal shooting of a Grand Rapids store owner will get a chance at freedom.
At the prosecutor’s request, a judge on Friday reduced the no-parole sentences of Saulo Montalvo, who was the getaway driver, and Christopher Peltier, who grabbed the cash register at the Beer Kooler back in 1996.
The extraordinary breaks are a result of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that declared teens must be treated differently than adults in murder cases. No-parole sentences are no longer automatic.
Montalvo now will be eligible for parole in five years. Peltier will need another 15 years. Prosecutor Bill Forsyth says he opposes a shorter sentence for the man who fatally shot Rodney Corp at the party store.
