Ricky Joseph Salvatore
Prince Frederick, MD – A Calvert County Circuit Court judge has decided not to modify the sentence of a Port Republic man convicted of shooting his brother to death in 2008. A request to allow Ricky Joseph Salvatore, 56, to be released in 2016 was filed with the court by his attorney, Robert Harvey. The request was considered by Judge Warren J. Krug Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Several family members spoke on behalf of the defendant at the hearing. While they, Harvey and Salvatore acknowledged the severity of the 2008 crime, all noted the defendant had made significant progress in recovering from drug, anger management, behavioral and psychological issues while being treated at the Patuxent Institute.
“I’m sorry for what I did, I loved my brother very much,” Salvatore told the court. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my brother.”
According to police reports, on Sunday, June 1 Ricky Salvatore and his brother, Robert Chris Salvatore, 47, also of Port Republic, were drinking beer and smoking marijuana dipped in PCP. In court documents, Ricky Salvatore told authorities the last thing he remembered was hearing a song about “forty-one shots” on the radio. The line “forty-one shots” is the refrain from the Bruce Springsteen song “American Skin.” Salvatore told police he had no recollection of getting a rifle, loading it and shooting his brother several times. Police arrived at the scene, found Robert Salvatore sitting in a folding chair in front of a television set in the garage. Robert Salvatore, who had been shot several times in the neck and chest, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ricky Salvatore was subsequently indicted on first-degree murder charges and less than a year later entered an Alford plea to a single first-degree murder charge. The sentencing guidelines in the case called for a sentence between 20 years to life in prison. The Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office had sought a sentence of 25 years. Krug sentenced Salvatore to life with all but 18 years suspended, recommended he be treated at Patuxent Institute’s correctional mental health center and required five years of supervised probation.
During the Sept. 24 hearing, Harvey told the court Salvatore “is currently getting intensive psychological help” and asked Krug to consider “paring down” the period of incarceration so his client could be released in 2016. The defense attorney noted Salvatore “had an absolute zero criminal record” when the 2008 incident occurred, had served admirably in the Armed Forces, was a family man and youth sports coach active in his church and was steadily employed as an elevator mechanic.
“Significant progress has been made,” said Harvey of Salvatore’s treatment at Patuxent Institute.
“I know he’s terribly contrite for what happened,” said Edward Scanlon, the defendant’s father-in-law.
“He’s not a criminal,” said Mark Salvatore, the defendant’s nephew and victim’s son. “This is the man I used to look up to and I want him back in my life.”
Calvert County Deputy State’s Attorney Frances Longwell declared, “it was not a mistake. He took a human’s life for no reason.” Longwell noted Ricky Salvatore got out of his chair, took out the gun from a locked case, loaded the weapon “and shot his brother while he was sleeping in a chair.”
Longwell labeled the incident “a cold-blooded murder.”
Ricky Salvatore thanked Krug for recommending he (Salvatore) be remanded to Patuxent institute. “I learned a lot of things while I was there,” he said, adding that his drug use clearly led to the 2008 crime. “When I get out of prison I want to get back into the community.”
Salvatore told the judge of his desire to help the youth in the community who are struggling with drug issues.
While he admitted Salvatore had done much good in his life, Krug added the good “is obviously trumped by this crime.”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com