Patel was brutalized before being shot dead.
AB Wire
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NEW YORK: A jury convicted Ezra Williams on Wednesday of armed robbery, kidnapping and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, but acquitted him of the murder of businessman Chandrakant ‘C. J.’ Patel, who owned a gas station in Anderson County, South Carolina.
Patel’s body was found in July of 2012, after his family reported him missing. Reports later said he was kidnapped by four people who later brutally tortured him to give up his debit and credit card pin numbers. When Patel refused to comply with the gang’s demands, he was shot dead, according to testimony in court.
Surveillance video led to the arrests of four people on kidnapping charges, which were upgraded to include murder charges, after Patel’s body was found July 11, 2012, in a wooded area near the Hartwell dam.
Zachary Gantt pleaded guilty in November 2014 to murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in Patel’s death. Kyndra Howell was acquitted in February of the murder, but was found guilty of kidnapping, armed robbery and possession of a weapon in Patel’s death. She was sentenced to 50 years in prison. A third suspect, Jeremiah Johnson was charged with murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Williams was the fourth suspect.
Fox News reported Judge Lawton McIntosh sentenced Williams to 30 years for armed robbery and 25 years for kidnapping. Those sentences will be served consecutively. Williams also received a 5-year sentence for the weapons charge that will be served at the same time as the other sentences, according to a statement from the 10th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Earlier in the year, jurors had heard the prosecution describe the last moments of Patel’s life. They said Patel went to a Howell’s home to pay for sex. Investigators say Patel had been paying Howell, who is in her 20s, for sex. They said Howell decided that she and some male accomplices would rob him.
The Independent Mail reported that Patel was led deep into some woods under the cover of darkness. His hands bound, Patel was already bruised and bloodied, having been beaten in a house in Homeland Park before he was driven 11 miles to a wooded area near the Georgia border, 10th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Rame Campbell said.
In the woods, the three people with Patel tried once more to get him to give up the personal identification numbers that would grant them access to his debit cards and cash, Campbell said.
When that didn’t work, “a 9mm pistol was put to the side of his head and the trigger was pulled,” Campbell said. Patel’s body was found days later, his hands still bound.
Read the earlier story: http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2015/06/23/indian-american-gas-station-owner-in-south-carolina-chandrakant-patel-was-tortured-before-being-shot-dead/