-Caveat Lector- http://www.dailypress.com/news/stories/33784sy0.htm Tuesday, Dec. 21, 1999 Ex-DEA agent spared prison time Judge suspends sentence citing 'punishment' done By William H. McMichael Daily Press HAMPTON - Former federal drug agent Joseph Armento will not go to prison for his role in a drunken January showdown outside a Hampton bar that left two fellow patrons wounded. Following Armento's emotional turn on the witness stand Monday morning, Circuit Judge Christopher W. Hutton sentenced him to five years in state prison and just as quickly suspended all of it for 10 years, contingent on good behavior. Armento also will serve a to-be-determined period of supervised probation. "I do not feel in this case that incarceration would serve any purpose other than retribution," said Hutton, noting the "punishment that Mr. Armento has already visited upon himself." Armento was convicted Oct. 28 on one count of unlawful shooting into an occupied vehicle, a Class 6 felony. At the trial, Hutton dismissed the more serious charges of malicious wounding and use of a firearm during a felony, ruling that Armento acted without malice. In November, Armento was forced to resign from the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to a DEA spokesman. Suspended without pay for the better part of the year, he had to rely on unemployment benefits to help support his wife and three children, he testified. "It's been a nightmare," he sobbed during pre-sentence questioning by his attorney, John R. Fletcher. He said he felt embarrassment and shame over the incident. "I can't believe the pain I caused," Armento said, barely able to speak. "There's not an hour in a day that I don't think about it." He said he'd accepted responsibility for the crime. "Obviously, very pleased with the sentence," Fletcher said afterward. "I think it was the right thing to do." Armento has since landed a job in accounting, his profession prior to joining the agency. The shootings took place just after midnight on Jan. 14 outside Rooney's Grille & Bar, where Armento and five other off-duty DEA agents -- in Hampton to assist local police -- had spent the evening drinking. Outside the bar, according to testimony, a shouting match erupted between several agents and three Hampton men. One of the three, Joseph Turk, produced a handgun and exclaimed, "You want some of this?" After listening to five different versions of what took place, Hutton found that Armento drew his DEA-issued 9mm handgun and fired a total of 14 shots. Turk was hit in the right arm while Jason Temple, backing his pickup truck away from the scene, was struck in the chest. The other man ran away. The original charges centered on the shooting of Temple; prosecutors felt the other shooting was justified because Turk drew his gun first. Afterward, Armento, his wife Sandy standing by his side outside the courthouse, said he was unhappy with news media coverage of his trial and felt that "this community has treated me unfairly from the beginning." Asked to elaborate, Armento criticized "the proceedings" but not Hutton, who convicted Armento Oct. 28. "He did what he had to do," Armento said. At the same time, Armento said, "I was trying to save my life that night. Turk, obviously through his own admission, had a gun. What was I supposed to think? That he was not going to use it? I reacted in the way I was trained." Armento's supervisor at the time, DEA Group Supervisor Frank Franco, called Armento a "developing crime investigator" who was honest and trustworthy and "pretty much a family man." He'd never seen him drunk, aggressive or belligerent, he said. Despite that endorsement, Armento said that the DEA "abandoned me from the beginning. And I thought, through the evidence, it was quite obvious what happened." He also said, "some of the other agents that were involved, I think, are obviously hiding something. And you can draw your own conclusions from that." All but one of those other agents testified during Armento's trial. The sixth agent, Theodore Hindes, had disappeared. Hindes, whom the defense alleged might have fired some of the shots during the gunfight, fled from the scene of the shooting and was later forced to resign from the agency. He left no forwarding address and refused to provide it when contacted by Hampton police. Prosecutors complained that the DEA didn't cooperate in helping locate Hindes, a potential witness, and Hutton said he was "most unhappy" about it. During the trial, the DEA acknowledged that concern and promised to conduct a review of its own conduct. Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Linda Curtis said Monday that she met Nov. 9 with DEA Inspector Charles Gardner, who told her he was preparing a report on the matter for higher-ups. Despite his frustration over the case, Armento said, "I'm grateful that I can go home." And, he added, "I'm happy it's over, and I apologize to the city of Hampton for any problems I caused. "I shouldn't have been out there that night," he said. Armento's problems may not be over, however. Attorney Stephen C. Swain, who represents Temple, said Monday that a civil suit seeking damages will be filed within two weeks against "the government and/or Armento." And Turk attorney Stephen F. Forbes said Monday that a civil suit against Armento and the DEA would likely be filed early next year. "And we're contemplating naming additional parties as well," Forbes said. William H. 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