Alleged Boston gang associate gets 8 years—but his sentence could increase
When a Brookline police officer asked him to get out of the passenger’s seat of a Lexus SUV for not wearing a seatbelt at 12:30 a.m. on May 6, 2014, Travis Windley had a revolver in his pocket.
“I was playing defense,” Windley, 28, explained to Chief Judge Patti Saris in Boston’s federal court Wednesday.
The hour-and-a-half sentencing hearing centered on Windley’s extensive criminal record, Boston gang violence, and a gray area in the federal law, which could mean that Saris’ decision to sentence Windley to eight years for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon from the altercation that ensued could soon be reversed and bumped up to 15.
“I have no idea whose position is correct,” said Saris at one point in the hearing, about whether or not she should sentence Windley under the Armed Career Criminal Act, commonly known as “three strikes,” as prosecutors had argued.
In the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision on Johnson v. United States, the court ruled that assault with a dangerous weapon is indeed a “crime of violence,” or a strike, that dramatically increases the mandatory minimum sentence if the defendant has previously been convicted of two similar charges. But the court has yet to make a ruling in Beckles v. United States, which would determine if that ruling should be applied retroactively, in cases in which the defendant was arrested before the ruling was made, like in Windley’s.
If the court decides it should be applied retroactively, prosecutors could bring Windley’s case again.
“I welcome being reserved,” said Saris, noting the “really sad and violent background” of Windley.
Assistant District Attorney John A. Wortman Jr. described Windley’s record as, “the worst criminal record that I have seen with someone so young in a long time.”
In 2006, Windley was convicted of beating a man with a baseball bat while yelling, “You [expletive] Arab,” according to Wortman. He was then involved in a fight in which he used a knife, and in 2007, was convicted of assault with intent to kill when he shot a man in the chest at a Burger King. He has yet to be sentenced in another 2013 state assault and battery case.
Wortman says Windley is also associated with the Lucerne Street Doggz, a local Boston gang.
“My intention on this case was just getting home safe,” Windley said, adding that he had left his house to get pizza.
He cited his fear of gang violence, and said he had to remain in the area due to his pending case.
“Most of the stuff happens when you’re going home,” Windley said. “Once I got to the point where they knew where I lived at, I got to get home safe.”
“But I assume if someone shot at you, you would shoot back?” Saris asked.
“Yeah, I guess I would,” Windley replied.
“How are you going to get out of this?” Saris asked.
“It’s like a trap,” he answered.
According to the federal affidavit, when Windley was first asked to exit the vehicle he replied, “No, for a f—— traffic stop?” He then refused to unlock his door. A state trooper, who responded to the Brookline police officer’s call for backup, then informed Windley that he would smash in the window with his baton, according to the affidavit.
Windley got out swinging his arms, resisting arrest, telling officers that he “would rather f—— die than go to jail,” the affidavit states. He had an active arrest warrant for violating an abuse prevention act in Stoughton at the time.
In his defense memorandum, Windley’s defense attorney, James J. Cipoletta, noted that his client grew up on Blue Hill Avenue were his early years were “encompassed by violence,” and he is a survivor of sexual molestation. Windley has since been diagnosed with mental health disorders and has undergone treatment for substance abuse, he said.
Updated July 7, 10 a.m.: An earlier version of this story said Windley had not yet been convicted of a 2013 assault and battery charge. Windley had been convicted but not yet sentenced in that case.
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