PERTH AMBOY, NJ—​On August 17, a Perth Amboy man admitted to fatally stabbing another city resident in October 2014, and agreed to a plea deal that will likely put him behind bars for three decades. 

Wilbert Hernandez, age 36, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, admitting he “fatally stabbed” 35-year-old Ramon Lugo on October 14, 2014, according to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO).

Hernandez also pleaded guilty to the fourth-degree charge of “certain person not to have a weapon,” according to the official statement.

New Brunswick Today obtained the press release despite all of our reporters being removed from the media list that the MCPO uses to disseminate their releases more than six months ago.

The charges were the result of an “intensive investigation” by Detective Carlos Rodriguez of the Perth Amboy Police Department and retired Detective Jeffrey Temple of the MCPO, according to the release.

“The investigation determined that the murder was not a random act of violence and that the two men knew each other.”

In the deal reached with Assistant Prosecutors Lisa Miralles Walsh and Miriam Acevedo, Hernandez will be sentenced to 30 years in state prison and will not be eligible for parole during the 30 year period for the murder charge.

He will be also sentenced to 18 months incarceration for the weapons charge, but he will be allowed to serve that sentence “concurrently,” at the same time as the sentence for the murder charge.

Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves accepted the plea deal and Hernandez’s sentencing is tentatively scheduled for February 3, 2017, according to the MCPO.

Editor at New Brunswick Today | 732-993-9697 | editor@newbrunswicktoday.com | Website

Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.

Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.