Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced that a Uniondale man who represented himself in a jury trial pleaded guilty today in a case involving the assault and robbery of an Amityville man in a Freeport motel room in July 2012.
Wayne Speaks pleaded guilty during a jury trial before Nassau County Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz to the following charges:
• Three counts of Assault in the 1st Degree (a B violent felony)
• Three counts of Robbery in the 1st Degree (a B violent felony)
• Three counts of Robbery in the 2nd Degree (a C violent felony)
• Robbery in the 3rd Degree (a D felony)
• Assault in the 2nd Degree (a D felony)
• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd Degree (a D felony)
• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 4th Degree (an A misdemeanor)
The defendant received a sentencing commitment from the court of nine years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. Speaks is due back in court for sentencing on Jan. 9, 2015.
“Regardless of the circumstances that led him to a hotel room that night, the victim in this case suffered horrific injuries at the hands of his assailants, and deserves justice for the brutality he endured,” DA Rice said. “I thank the jury for their service. This guilty plea will mean that this defendant will not be a threat to the public for a significant period of time.”
DA Rice said that on July 13, 2012 at 3:45 a.m., Speaks and a co-defendant entered a room at the Yankee Clipper Motor Inn in Freeport after receiving information from a woman under his employ that the victim no longer wanted to engage her services for sex.
Speaks and the co-defendant then robbed and assaulted the victim with a boxcutter, causing lacerations to his lip, leg, and forehead, as well as knocking out three of the victim’s teeth. The victim was later transported by ambulance to South Nassau Community Hospital for treatment of his serious injuries, which left lasting scars.
The defendant was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department on July 29, 2012.
The woman, Wendi Seletsky, 31, of Hempstead, pleaded guilty in March 2013 to Assault in the 2nd Degree (a D felony) and was sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation.
The case against Speaks’ co-defendant is still open.
Assistant District Attorneys Jesse Aviram of DA Rice’s County Court Bureau and Daryl Levy of DA Rice’s Major Offense Bureau are prosecuting the case. Speaks represented himself at trial.