'Unrepentant career criminal' sentenced to 40 years to life for trying to kill cop

A Mount Vernon felon was sentenced today to 40 years to life in prison for trying to stab and kill a Westchester County police officer in 2016.

“You show no remorse,” Westchester County Court Judge Susan Cacace told Ronald Clare Greenland. “You accept no responsibility.”

David Sanchez, the officer Greenland was convicted of attacking, called Greenland heartless, cold and inhumane. With county police officers packing the courtroom, Sanchez spoke tearfully in court about how close he came to never seeing his wife or children again.

“I would be a name on the wall,” he said. “I would be a distant memory to my kids.”

Greenland, wearing glasses and a blue suit, declined to speak before he was sentenced, other than to say he maintains his innocence. His lawyer, Richard Ferrante, mentioned in court that they’re hoping to get a new trial.

The judge said his claims of innocence flew in the face of the evidence.

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Greenland, who has a criminal record dating back to the 1980s and sneaked into the U.S. illegally multiple times, went to trial and was convicted by a jury on Oct. 25 of several charges, including attempted murder of a police officer.

The 55-year-old native of Jamaica was found guilty of attacking Sanchez in Mount Kisco on Nov. 8, 2016, after Greenland fled after trying to steal from a car dealership.

Prosecutor Lana Hochheiser had asked for 40 years to life for Greenland, whom she called “utterly unremorseful.”

“He’s an unrepentant career criminal,” she said in court. “It’s only by the grace of God that Officer Sanchez didn’t end up dead.”

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Following the stabbing arrest, Greenland, who has been deported twice, was charged in federal court with illegally entering the country, after a previous federal conviction for the same offense. He pleaded guilty to that in November and is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in White Plains on March 9.

In Westchester County Court in October, Greenland was convicted of attempted first-degree murder, attempted first-degree assault, attempted aggravated assault of a police officer, second-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies, and a misdemeanor count of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, according to court records. He was acquitted of a felony charge of third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

Prosecutors said in court documents that Greenland had been trying to steal tires and rims from a new truck at the Arroway Chevrolet dealership at 175 N. Bedford Road in Mount Kisco on Nov. 8, 2016.

Around 2 a.m. Sanchez had been patrolling the area, where recent thefts at car dealerships had been reported, and saw Greenland quickly drive out of the back of the property in a 2000 Honda Odyssey that had been stolen two months earlier in Scarsdale, prosecutors said. Sanchez pulled Greenland over but when he approached the minivan, Greenland sped away, they said.

Greenland stopped in a driveway on Knowlton Avenue and ran into the woods before Sanchez caught him, prosecutors said. Greenland resisted and used a knife to try to stab Sanchez multiple times in his midsection, but the officer's vest blocked the knife and he was not seriously injured.

More police officers responded and helped arrest Greenland. A pair of gloves, a mask and a two-way radio were found in the area where Greenland ran from Sanchez, prosecutors said, and at the car dealership a jack was found next to the truck that Greenland was trying to steal from.

Greenland has been held at the Westchester County jail since his arrest, and there is an immigration detainer on him, according to jail records. He was indicted in December 2016.

Greenland's criminal past has put him behind bars before and gotten him booted from the country twice. In 1987 he was convicted of arson after firebombing a car in a state police impound lot.

In 2003 he was arrested as one of the leaders of a car-theft ring that had stolen more than 20 luxury cars over a three-month period. He was convicted and sentenced to two to six years in prison.

In February 2007 an immigration judge ordered him to be deported, and two years later he was sent to Jamaica. Within months he was back in the U.S., though, and was arrested soon after in Nassau County for possession of stolen property.

ICE agents were notified and Greenland was taken into federal custody. He was convicted in federal court of illegally entering the U.S. and was again deported in 2015 after his release from prison.

Greenland again made his way back into the country and was living in Florida for a time before returning to Westchester.

Twitter: @MattSpillane