A Silver Spring man is expected to serve 27 years in prison for attempting to murder his landlord in 2020, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney Office.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schweitzer sentenced Geofrey Gaitan, 31, to 30 years in prison, with all but 27 years suspended, according to Lauren DeMarco, spokesperson for state’s attorney office. Upon his release, Gaitan also will serve five years of probation.
Gaitan’s conviction by a jury on April 24 marked the third trial for the case. Juries in two previous trials could not reach a verdict, according to the release.
“This was an unprovoked attack on an innocent man and the defendant will now be held accountable,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a press statement.
According to charging documents, Gaitan “severely beat” his 63-year-old landlord on April 19, 2020, during a dispute over rent in a home on the 9700 block of Hastings Drive in Silver Spring. The victim suffered multiple skull fractures as well as a permanent, traumatic brain injury.
A man who identified himself as a resident of the house told police he saw Gaitan hit the victim several times with two solid wood table legs, and then stomp on the victim’s head after he fell to the ground, according to charging documents. County police found the landlord lying unconscious in a pool of blood.
The landlord was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, the documents said.
Attorney contact information for Gaitan was not immediately available to MoCo360.
