Submitted photo Cassi Seekings is pictured with her husband, Justin Gibbons. The Sherman man was killed in October 2019.

The widow of a Sherman man killed during an altercation in October 2019 says she was “left in the dark” regarding a plea deal reached between the man who shot her husband and the office that handled the prosecution.

The prosecutor said the case would have likely resulted in acquittal if it had gone to trial.

Nonetheless, Cassi Seekings doesn’t believe justice was served following the sentencing of Julio Montanez to 1 1/3 to four years in prison for the death of 28-year-old Justin Gibbons.

“I’m disappointed about the whole plea deal itself,” Seekings told The Post-Journal this week. “I’m happy the judge gave him the maximum sentence and didn’t let him out right then.”

However, because Montanez sat in jail for more than two years awaiting trial, he may already be eligible for parole, said his attorney, Chautauqua County Public Defender Ned Barone. The Jamestown man had been indicted on charges of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder for his role in the Oct. 6, 2019, shooting in Sherman before accepting a plea to criminally negligent homicide in September.

The case was originally handled by then-Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson. However, after Swanson lost his re-election bid in November 2020, the case was taken up by the district attorney’s office in Cattaraugus County as special prosecutor.

Seekings said Swanson, while overseeing the prosecution, told her if a plea was being considered in the case he would let her know. About a year after the shooting, County Court Judge David Foley dismissed the indictment against Montanez, stating Swanson’s office failed to properly handle the grand jury proceeding regarding potential defenses for the shooting.

Swanson obtained another indictment on the same charges later that same month.

Seekings preferred the case go before a jury. She said the loss of her husband — friends growing up before getting married in 2014 — has placed a strain on her family with two children between the pair and another child Gibbons had from a previous relationship.

“I was hoping for a trial,” Seekings said. “I would have never agreed to a plea deal. When it was still through Chautauqua County, Swanson said if it ever came to a plea deal he would contact me first.”

AN EARLY MORNING MEETING

Police say Montanez met with a group that included Gibbons around 1:30 a.m. the morning of Oct. 6, 2019, in the parking lot of a Sherman bar to arrange a narcotics deal. During the transaction, Gibbons and another person allegedly began to strike and kick Montanez.

At one point, Montanez retrieved a gun and fired several rounds into a vehicle occupied by Gibbons and two other people. One bullet struck the driver’s side door and several other rounds struck the back of the vehicle.

The vehicle went off the road after the shooting and came to a stop near the bar. Gibbons, who was struck by two bullets, was transported to Westfield Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Swanson had asserted that Montanez fired into the vehicle as it was driving away.

Seekings said Gibbons was largely a “stay at home father” for their children while she worked. When she returned home, she said her husband would often go out with friends.

The Sherman woman said she awoke to a flurry of text messages stating there had been a shooting. She had never heard of the name Julio Montanez.

“They heard it over the scanner,” she recalled of receiving the news. “I immediately jumped out of bed. I didn’t know what hospital they took him to. I called Westfield (Memorial Hospital) and they told me they couldn’t give out any information, but if I knew what hospital I thought he was at I should come right in.”

She added, “My parents lived with me and I woke them up and told them what was going on. They rushed me to the hospital — we didn’t know if he was alive. The doctors and cops came and told me he died. I just collapsed screaming and crying on the floor.”

Seekings noted that her husband did struggle with drug use in the past, but stated he had been clean. She doesn’t believe Gibbons was there for a drug deal, or at least was not aware that the early morning trip involved drugs.

“In my opinion he was not there to get drugs,” she said. “He was clean; he did have a history but he had been clean for a while. I personally don’t think he was told that he was going for drugs — he was tagging along with a friend. Personally, my husband was the type of person who, even if you didn’t talk for five years, if you called and said you needed help he’d be there.”

A PLEA DEAL REACHED

After the Cattaraugus County DA’s office took on the case, Seekings said she had a hard time reaching the top prosecutor, Lori Rieman, to get updates on the case. The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered many court functions, and Seekings assumed Rieman was busy with her own slate of cases in Cattaraugus County.

Seekings had also been receiving aid through the Victim Assistance Program that provides free services to victims of crimes and their families. The services, provided through the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office, can include information about the criminal justice system, safety plans, compensation, restitution, offender notifications, court assistance and crisis service referrals.

Early on, Seekings said the program acted as a “middle person” between the family and the DA’s office on where the case stood. After Cattaraugus County took over, Seekings said the program helped her get contact information — in the form of an email — for Rieman.

However, she said the first contact with the DA didn’t occur until after a plea deal had been announced. Seekings said she heard about Montanez pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the news.

“I was kind of dumbfounded because nothing had been mentioned to me,” said Seekings, who noted that the family was upset by what the deal meant in terms of possible jail time for Montanez if found guilty on the most serious charge. Second-degree murder carriers a sentence up to life in prison, while the maximum sentence for criminally negligent homicide is four years.

When Seekings finally reached the DA, through email, she said Rieman apologized for not responding sooner and let her know when sentencing would take place in Chautauqua County Court.

“It was very tough with just not knowing a lot of the time,” Seekings said. “I just hoped and prayed it got to trial so there wasn’t any more guessing. The last two years have just been horrible with the waiting.”

“I don’t believe justice was served at all,” she added. “My children have to grow up without a father and he gets to walk away.”

Rieman said she did have contact with Seekings, but was unaware the family wanted to be involved as well.

“I know they are unhappy with the plea but it was not a good case for us as the victim and his associates set the defendant up and were beating him with a baseball bat immediately preceding the shooting,” Rieman told The Post-Journal by email Wednesday. “I think a jury would have likely acquitted him and I know they would not understand or agree.”