Youths enter plea bargain in attack on abducted teen

Bill Gang

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

Four teenagers have pleaded guilty to a variety of felony charges in the bizarre attack on a 17-year-old high school student who was taken on a joy ride down the Strip before he was shot in the eyes with a pellet gun and strangled into unconsciousness.

Thursday's guilty pleas by three of the defendants and an earlier plea by the fourth guarantees that they will be imprisoned for years before they will be eligible for parole, Deputy District Attorney Tom Carroll said.

The guilty pleas for the three -- Marcos Pasaye, 18, Darren Worster, 17, and Alexander Worster, 15 -- came just four days before they were to stand trial in District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's courtroom. The fourth defendant, James Greco, 18, pleaded guilty several weeks ago and agreed to testify for the prosecution.

In the deal, sexual assault charges against Pasaye were dropped and other counts reduced for the Worsters.

Carol said the December incident began when the defendants abducted the victim at gunpoint as he was arriving home late at night from his job at the Circus Circus hotel-casino. They drove him around for several hours -- stealing alcohol at a market, stopping for gas and visiting a casino -- before the car broke down in a Strip motel parking lot.

It was there that the victim alleged he was sexually assaulted and then shot with the pellet gun, although Carroll said the low charge of a used CO2 cartridge prevented serious injury.

Pasaye pleaded guilty to kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder. If he is given the lightest sentence in September, Pasaye will face a minimum of 18 years in prison before he will be eligible for parole. The maximum sentence would keep him behind bars for 38 years.

The Worsters pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy. Each will serve five years before parole eligibility.

Greco admitted to second-degree kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder charges in a deal that will result in a four- to 10-year sentence.