Manhattan prosecutor in Daniel Penny trial secured reduced sentence for brute convicted in fatal 2019 NYC mugging

The Manhattan prosecutor who pressed jurors this week to convict Daniel Penny in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely once used a restorative justice program to secure a reduced sentence for a brute who killed an elderly professor during a mugging on the Upper West Side six years ago. 

Matthew Lee, 57, was originally facing a 25 year-to-life sentence on murder charges when he attacked beloved Lehman College instructor Young Kun Kim, 87, from behind and snatched money the victim had withdrawn from an ATM on May 13, 2018. 

Kim resisted and, during an ensuing struggle, fell and hit his head – dying days later from bleeding in his brain as Lee fled with $300 before he was captured. 

Prosecutor Dafna Yoran, who handled Lee’s case, negotiated to reduce the possible life sentence to a mere 10 years behind bars after the assailant participated in a restorative justice program initiated by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.

It was the first time the Manhattan DA’s office had used the program – designed to encourage victims and their families to engage directly with the person who wronged them – for a homicide case.

As part of his plea agreement, Lee had a face-to-face meeting with the victim’s son in the presence of a mediator ahead of his December 2019 sentencing. 

Penny — a Marine veteran from Long Island — faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter in the death of Neely, a troubled homeless man, on a crowded F train subway car in May 2023.

The 12 jurors – seven women and five men – heard from more than 40 witnesses during the four-week trial, including straphangers who witnessed Neely’s erratic outburst before Penny placed him in a chokehold for several minutes. 

During closing arguments in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, Yoran implored jurors to convict Penny, 26, for acting recklessly when he used “too much force, for way too long” when he kept an unarmed, mentally ill man in the chokehold — long after he could reasonably have been considered a deadly threat.

“What’s so tragic about this case is that even though the defendant started out trying to do the right thing, as the chokehold progressed, the defendant knew that Jordan Neely was in great distress and dying, and he needlessly continued,” Yoran told jurors in her closing statement.

“The defendant was given all the signs that he needed to stop. He ignored them and kept going until a man died. He must be held accountable for that.”

Penny’s attorneys have argued that his actions were “fully justified” to protect people on the subway from Neely, 30, who witnesses said was menacing passengers and making threats before Penny took him down.

If the jury finds Penny not guilty of manslaughter but convicts him of criminally negligent homicide, he faces up to four years behind bars.

There’s no minimum on either charge, meaning that he could also be sentenced to probation.

Jurors began deliberations Tuesday.