- November 16, 2024
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A Palm Coast man faces a life sentence for the kidnapping and battery of a restaurant delivery driver in November 2013.
Giuseppe Verdone, 23, was convicted by a Flagler County jury June 18 of robbery with a weapon, kidnapping with a weapon, battery, burglary with assault or battery, and burglary while armed. Circuit Court Judge David Walsh presided over the case.
The jury, composed of 4 men and 2 women, deliberated for less than 50 minutes, according to a news release from the Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
The prosecution had argued that Verdone falsely arranged a delivery order from King’s Palace, a Chinese restaurant at 515 Palm Coast Parkway S.W., then carjacked the driver and threw the driver from the moving car. The driver suffered life-threatening injuries, but lived.
Prosecutors will seek to have Verdone classified as a prison releasee reoffender — which would trigger a mandatory life sentence — at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for 3 p.m. July 15 at the Flagler County Courthouse.
