Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the sentencing today of a Uniondale man who pleaded guilty during a jury trial for a heinous boxcutter attack against an Amityville man following a dispute with a woman in a Freeport motel room in July 2012.
Wayne Speaks, 48, was sentenced today to nine years in prison and five years of post-release supervision by Nassau County Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz. Speaks pleaded guilty to the following charges in November 2014 during a trial in which he represented himself:
• Two 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 serious injuries suffered by the victim in this case demanded a serious sentence for the person responsible for these crimes, which hopefully will deter others from engaging in similar acts of violence,” Acting DA Singas said.
Acting DA Singas said that on July 13, 2012 at 3:45 a.m., Speaks and the co-defendant robbed and assaulted the victim at the Yankee Clipper Motor Inn in Freeport 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).
The case against Speaks’ co-defendant is still open.
Assistant District Attorney Jesse Aviram of Acting DA Singas’ County Court Bureau is prosecuting the case. Speaks represented himself at sentencing.