Atlantic City Man Pleads Guilty In Cedar Market Stabbing
Friday, December 13, 2024, 8:35 A.M. ET. 1 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ.- A 35-year-old Atlantic City, New Jersey, man is facing spending the next 15 years in State Prison after pleading guilty in connection with the near-stabbing death of a man that occurred earlier this year.
On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, Francisco Bonilla, 35, of Atlantic City, New Jersey, appeared in Atlantic County Superior Court and pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Joseph Levin to first-degree Attempted Murder. Following entering his plea, Judge Levin accepted the plea and scheduled Bonilla to be sentenced on April 4, 2025.
In return for the guilty plea, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office will recommend that Bonilla be sentenced to fifteen years in New Jersey State Prison subject to the No Early Release Act, requiring Bonilla to serve 85% of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the guilty plea stems from an incident that unfolded on February 3, 2024, when members of the Atlantic City Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing at the Cedar Market located at 101 N. Rhode Island Avenue in the City.
During the investigation, Responding Police Officers and Detectives determined that during an apparent altercation, the victim, Emad Wissa, 39, was stabbed multiple times by Bonilla. The stabbing was captured on the Market’s surveillance video.
