MUSKEGON, MI – The father of a homicide victim who pleaded to breaking into the home of his son’s alleged assailant is headed to prison.
Tony Federighe, 50, of Muskegon was ordered to serve at least 23 months in prison after he failed to complete inpatient rehabilitation, violating probation in two criminal cases.
His 22-year-old son, AJ Federighe, was fatally shot in September 2018 on a walkway at the Balcom’s Cove condominium development where Tony Federighe lived. Another resident of the high-rise condos, Paul Gabriel, is accused of murdering the younger man after they had a physical altercation.
Tony Federighe pleaded no contest to breaking into Gabriel’s condominium about two months after the fatal shooting. It was alleged that he and another man, Bradley William VanLente, stole a television set and heldheld electronic devices while Gabriel was in the county jail awaiting trial for the homicide charge. VanLente pleaded guilty in February and was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 15 years in prison, records show.
Tony Federighe accused of breaking into condo of son’s alleged killer
Tony Federighe and another man are accused of breaking into Paul Gabriel’s apartment and stealing electronics.
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Federighe’s plea to second-degree home invasion was entered on April 3, the same day he also pleaded guilty to fleeing and eluding police in return for the dismissal of a charge of driving on a suspended license, court records show.
For both cases, Muskegon County Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks sentenced Federighe to probation, which required he attend a one-year inpatient rehabilitation program in Texas.
However, Federighe’s attorney, in a motion filed Aug. 20, told the court that Federighe was “assaulted” by another patient at the treatment program, and both of them were kicked out and moved to a halfway house that was “deplorable, unkempt, filthy and uninhabited.”
So, Federighe “begged for money” to pay for bus fare back to Muskegon, attorney Kevin Even wrote in the motion. The motion sought to have Federighe assigned to another inpatient program in Michigan, but Hicks refused.
Instead, Hicks on Sept. 9 sentenced Federighe to 23 months to five years in prison for probation violation. He gave Federighe credit for 143 days served.
Text messages show condominium killer’s obsession with victim’s dad: prosecution
Investigators in the murder at Balcom’s Cove on Muskegon Lake seized thousands of Paul Gabriel’s text messages.
Court records indicate that Gabriel and Tony Federighe had been feuding for about a year prior to the fatal shooting, and both unsuccessfully sought personal protection orders against each other.
Testimony at the preliminary exam indicated that AJ Federighe and Gabriel had gotten into a physical fight in the parking garage of the Balcom’s Cove building just prior to the fatal shooting.
Another condo resident separated them, but the two encountered one another again in an elevated walkway at the condo building, where the shooting occurred, testimony indicated.
A surveillance camera captured the immediate aftermath of the shooting, including Gabriel walking away carrying a gun and AJ Federighe staggering and then collapsing from the fatal wound to his torso.
Disturbing video shows aftermath of fatal condo shooting
The video was shown during the preliminary examination for the man accused of open murder in the shooting death at Balcom’s Cove on Muskegon Lake.
