Shooter Sentenced In Botched Morris County Motel Robbery

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A 25-year-old woman has been sentenced to more than a decade behind bars for shooting a man during a botched drug deal at a New Jersey motel, resulting in the victim losing part of his leg.

Auraceli A. Maldonado, of Irvington, was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree aggravated assault for her role in the Oct. 18, 2023, attack at the Roxbury Motel on Route 46 in Morris County.

Police previously arrested her alleged accomplice, Jean Omar Rockson, 33, of Orange, who also entered a guilty plea in connection with the botched robbery and is awaiting sentencing.

Investigators say Rockson provided Maldonado with an AR-style rifle used during the robbery, which stemmed from a drug deal inside a motel room.

The pair had arranged to meet with the victim, a 36-year-old man, shortly before 9 p.m., with the intention of buying drugs, authorities said. However, after an argument broke out, they robbed him, shooting him in the leg and causing severe injuries that ultimately led to the amputation of his right leg.

Security footage showed Rockson and Maldonado exiting a Honda registered in New York, prosecutors said. Police later identified Maldonado as the owner of the car, which was seen traveling through East Hanover shortly after the incident.

Investigators tracked the vehicle to Florida using an automatic license plate reader. On Nov. 2, 2023, they found Maldonado at a motel in Middleburg, Florida. Rockson was arrested outside his Orange home on Feb. 15, 2024.

Rockson is currently on home detention with Pretrial Monitoring Level 3+ and is prohibited from contacting the victim.

As part of her sentence, Maldonado will serve about 10 years and three months in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

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