KINGSTON – Maurice Stansberry, Jr., 18, of Kingston was sentenced in Ulster County Court on Friday to five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision on his guilty plea to robbery. A protection order was issued for the family of Mark Lancaster who was killed during the robbery.
Stansberry Jr. admitted that he and his co-defendants planned the robbery to obtain marijuana and possessed a loaded handgun, which was used during the crime.
Maurice Stansberry Sr. shot and killed Lancaster on Sawkill Road around noon on December 1, 2018 after a gunpoint robbery of marijuana from Lancaster’s teenage son at Sawkill Trailer Park moments before. Stansberry Jr. was the driver during the robbery and after the murder of Lancaster.
Mark Lancaster’s mother, Donna Quiles, spoke to the court about their loss and the continuing impact and trauma the murder has had on their family. She highlighted choices and options that Stansberry Jr. could have taken to avoid the ultimate result of their conduct. She also spoke about the intense careless and insensitive comments and actions from officials of the Kingston High School and others, as well as postings on social media by various users, who only seem to care about this defendant as a star athlete for the school. She asked the court to impose the maximum sentence that was agreed to in exchange for Stansberry Jr.’s cooperation with the prosecution of the case.
Stansberry Jr. testified in the trial which convicted his father of murder and a host of other serious violent felonies arising from the robbery.
