By Daniel Katzive
A federal judge sentenced the suspect in a string of 2022 Upper West Side armed robberies to 35 years in prison earlier this month. The punishment was handed down by a federal court in North Carolina where the man, Ryan Lewis Little, had also pled guilty to robbery and attempted murder of a witness.
Little, 40, was sentenced on October 17 to 420 months in prison and five years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen, Jr. in Greensboro, NC, also ordered Little to pay restitution of $56,970. Little had pleaded guilty to robbery, firearm, and intimidation charges in North Carolina, as well as to a robbery in Harlem for which he was arrested by the NYPD over two years ago, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Middle District of North Carolina. According to the U.S. Attorney’s press release, Little shot a man in the face in Greensboro in retaliation for speaking with police.
As WSR reported last summer, Little was arrested in New York after robbing a restaurant uptown. He was linked by the NYPD to a string of armed robberies of fruit stands and food trucks on the Upper West Side that occurred in April 2022. His prosecution was handed over to federal authorities, who sought to consolidate the New York case with that of earlier robberies and the more serious crime of attempted murder in North Carolina.
After protracted negotiations, Little agreed to be transferred to North Carolina where he would plead guilty to the Harlem and Greensboro crimes. As part of the deal, Little said that he would not contest that he had committed eight additional gunpoint robberies in Manhattan that month and that those robberies could be considered as factors in his sentencing.
But things did not go as smoothly as prosecutors had anticipated once Little arrived in North Carolina. In December of 2023, he withdrew his agreement to plead guilty, according to court records, and asked that a new attorney be appointed, claiming in court “there’s things I don’t understand.” Prosecutors prepared to bring him to trial in the spring of 2024, but on the eve of those proceedings, Little pleaded guilty to the North Carolina charges and then subsequently to the New York charges. Court records show that unspecified medical issues affecting the defendant also resulted in delays as the case moved forward.
Sentencing was set for September, but Little again tried to withdraw his guilty plea. This time, the judge would not allow him to recant, paving the way for this month’s sentencing. Little, represented by a third new attorney, has filed his intention to appeal his conviction, citing his inability to withdraw his guilty plea. His current attorney did not return a voicemail message from WSR requesting comment.
Federal and local records show Little has been jailed since his 2022 arrest, first in the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and then in county jails in North Carolina. Little had sought to serve his sentence in a North Carolina state penitentiary rather than federal prison, and court records indicate the judge recommended that he be able to do this. The court also recommended that he receive mental health and substance abuse treatment while in prison.
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Did I read that sentence right? 420 months? 35 years plus 5 more supervised?
Ironic, North Carolina needs to do what Manhattan couldn’t.
Fruit for thought.
It was actually a federal judge. And had the case been tried in New York, it would have been a state judge. Perhaps you should say, “The US Department of Justice needs to do what New York State couldn’t.”
What couldn’t NY State do? They were smart to hand the case over to the Federal Court in NC where the charges could be combined.
If you’d read the article, you’d know that “Manhattan” didn’t prosecute him because the greater charge of attempted murder in N. Carolina warranted handing jurisdiction to the Feds, who could combine all the charges into one, Federal case , which was prosecuted in NC — not by a NC District Atty. but by a U.S. Atty. — because the NYC charges were lesser.
I’m curious how few years he must serve before being eligible for parole. If he wanted to stay in the NC prison as opposed to a federal prison, I suspect he’s managing quite well there. I’m guessing he doesn’t want to be jailed with the bigger and meaner boys. Too bad he didn’t get transferred.
Federal prisons are notoriously safer than state prisons in the south.
Thank you for the update, WSR! I am obviously not happy this happened but very glad that he is paying a price for his crime. Perhaps other people considering committing crimes will read about this and think twice.
Man, I absolutely hate it when malefactors game the courts this way to postpone justice.
At least the North Carolina legal system knows how to handle violent, repeat offenders. NYC – please take note!
Thank you to the cops and detectives and all who work in law enforcement for tracking this incredibly dangerous goon down and working hard to put him away. I support you and am so so so grateful for your labors.
I’ve never understood the need for substance abuse treatment while in prison. Technically, there shouldn’t be any drugs in prison to abuse. Fix THAT problem and let these criminals go cold turkey for the remainder of their sentences.
The only thing he has to understand that is you cannot rob people. That’s it. Too bad if there is something else he doesn’t understand. He understands, he’s just lying. Lock him up and throw away the key.
AL BUNDY 2024.