When two Atlantic County men set their friend on fire last year, they called it a prank gone wrong."This could not be further from the truth," Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Waldman said before sentencing both men to five years in prison under a plea agreement.Raymond Mullen was asleep on David Sult's couch March 15, 2019, when he woke up on fire.He fled the Mays Landing home, only to find Sult and Brandon Perez continuing to attack him, he previously told BreakingAC.At one point, Sult even grabbed Mullen's keys, keeping him from leaving.He was able to get away and drove to Brigantine."Mom, I need to go to the hospital, they set me on fire," his mother recalled as she read a statement to the court.While Mullen's physical and emotional injuries kept him from facing his attackers Friday, he sent a statement, talking of the injuries he's suffered and how he still doesn't understand why the men he thought were his friends attacked him."I can't even begin to describe what a monstrous act it was," said his father, Dr. John Mullen.The 28-year-old man is now hindered by physical injuries that include not being able to sweat or stand extreme temperatures.Raymond Mullen had just realized his dream of going professional in motorbike."His dreams went up in smoke with lighter fluid and the flick of a lighter," his mother said.Sult, 25, declined to speak before his sentencing.Perez, 24, said he was sorry. His mother and sister both said that he is a loving person who helped raise his younger siblings and took care of his disabled grandmother.Both men's attorneys argued that the judge sentence them as third-degree offenders. But Waldman refused.He sentenced them in accordance with the plea agreement of five years, the lower end for a a second-degree crime.They must serve 85 percent — or four years, three months and a day — under the No Early Release Act. They will have three years' parole.
A Brigantine man has been left struggling with constant pain and medical expenses after he was lit on fire as he slept on a friend’s couch.
Raymond Mullen, 27, stopped at David Sult’s house in Mays Landing after work March 15, and wound up falling asleep on the man’s couch. He woke up on fire. Mullen said he ran outside, and tried patting himself down. “All of a sudden, the fire got huge,” he said.
Sult and another man, Brandon Perez, had followed him outside, he said. Mullen said Sult was spraying his back with lighter fluid when Perez grabbed it out of his hand.
“I’ll show you how it’s done, Dave,” Perez said, Mullen told BreakingAC.
About six people watched and did nothing, he said.
“They just stood there,” Mullen said. “Unbelievable. Like it was a show.” Read more...
