Long Branch Man Gets 50 Years For Attempted Murder: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD – A Long Branch man could spend the next 50 years in prison for the attempted murder of a Red Bank man, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.

Anthony Sims, Jr., 28, of Long Branch, was convicted of first-degree attempted murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and second-degreed unlawful possession of a weapon after a five-week jury trial on July 11.

Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Scully ruled that under the terms of the state's No Early Release Act, Sims will serve 85 percent of his sentence - 42 years and six months - before he is eligible for release on parole, the prosecutor said.

The victim, Perry Veney, was sitting in the driver's seat of his car in front of his grandmother's house at 13 Willow Street on April 9, 2014, when Sims approached him with a semi-automatic handgun and fired 15 rounds into Veney's car, Gramiccioni said.

Veney was struck more than 10 times and had to be airlifted to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he underwent multiple surgeries.

Sims was arrested on April 14, 2014, after a joint investigation by the Red Bank Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Sims was under parole supervision for a previous Red Bank conviction of attempted manslaughter, after he was released from state prison on Jan. 13, 2014, Gramiccioni said.

At the time of his arrest, Sims was under parole supervision for two prior Red Bank attempted manslaughters. Sims had been released on parole from State Prison on January 13, 2014, less than three months before committing this crime.

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