Guilty Plea In 2007 Shooting Death Of Jersey City Man

Jersey City NJ

26 April, 2021

1:11 PM

Description

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Zia Berisha, 46 of Linden, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the 2007 shooting of Michael Marro, Jr., 39 of Jersey City, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office. Berisha had previously been convicted in this murder case in 2010 and sentenced to a 30-year term in State Prison, but in 2019 the conviction was overturned by a state Appellate court and remanded for a new trial. Under the new guilty plea, the state is recommending a 20-year sentence in New Jersey state prison subject to the No Early Release Act for the aggravated manslaughter which would run consecutive to a 15-year federal sentence against Berisha related to a 2009 plea for a charge of conspiracy to distribute ecstasy. In November 207, Jersey City police were called to Michael Marro's home on Warren Street. According to officials, police found Marro dead when they arrived — he had been beaten and shot. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for July 16, 2021.