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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Despite continuing protest from one of the defendants, the two men convicted of killing a prominent local DJ learned their fate Thursday: life in prison without the possibility of parole.</p><p>Roberto &#8220;Ruthless&#8221; Battle and David &#8220;D-Rock&#8221; Nealy were found guilty by a jury after only 90 minutes of deliberation in December in connection with the October 2013 death of Michael &#8220;DJ Mo&#8221; Onley.</p><p>Both were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after the jurors decided they were responsible for Onley&#8217;s death in a drive-by shooting outside of the now-shuttered Outsiders Bar in downtown Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Battle, 29, of Brooklyn, New York, fired shots randomly into a crowd gathered outside the bar after he was kicked out earlier in the evening. One of the bullets struck Onley between the eyes. Nealy, 38, of Kingston, was driving the vehicle Battle fired from.</p><p>Battle and Nealy appeared in court again Thursday to be sentenced by Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas.</p><p>Members of Onley&#8217;s family were allowed to address the court and Battle and Nealy directly. Onley&#8217;s father, Michael Onley Sr., spoke directly to his son&#8217;s convicted killers, telling them this didn&#8217;t need to happen.</p><p>&#8220;You should&#8217;ve just went home and dropped him off,&#8221; Onley said to Nealy, saying the night could have ended peacefully.</p><p>Onley&#8217;s mother, Najada Pilgrim, was fiery in her condemnation of the pair. She said to Battle that she looked up the dictionary definition of his street name, Ruthless.</p><p>&#8220;Ruthless. You character fits all of that,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I feel for David&#8217;s family, but you are ruthless. I hope and pray you change your life.&#8221;</p><p>She was kinder to Nealy, noting his stirring testimony at trial that came against the advice of his attorney, Thomas Sundmaker. During that testimony, Nealy openly said Battle fired the shot that killed Onley, but claimed he had no idea he had any plan to shoot at the bar as they drove past.</p><p>&#8220;David, I thank you for your statement and bringing closure to my family,&#8221; Pilgrim said. &#8220;You left no doubt in my mind what happened that night.&#8221;</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino asked Lupas not to be lenient when sentencing the pair on the conspiracy charge, even though their fate was already decided as first-degree murder caries a mandatory life sentence in Pennsylvania.</p><p>&#8220;When these men die, they&#8217;re gonna owe decades more,&#8221; Ferentino said.</p><p>Sundmaker asked that his client be given a lighter sentence on the conspiracy charge, claiming Nealy has expressed nothing but remorse for Onley&#8217;s death.</p><p>&#8220;I believe and others in this courtroom believe he stands in a different set of shoes from Mr. Battle&#8217;s,&#8221; Sundmaker said, claiming Nealy was less culpable for Onley&#8217;s death than Battle.</p><p>Nealy, though, in a lengthy address to the court, continues to claim he bears no culpability for Onley&#8217;s death.</p><p>&#8220;I believe his family deserve closure, but I don&#8217;t believe this is truly closure, knowing that a truly innocent man is rotting in jail,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Nealy said he did not have a fair trial, claiming media coverage biased jurors against him from the start.</p><p>&#8220;I had as much media coverage as Hugo Selenski,&#8221; he said, referring to the convicted murderer.</p><p>He did, however, repeatedly offer his condolences to Onley&#8217;s family, saying his death was a tragedy, and did claim one bit of responsibility: saying he wished he came forward sooner.</p><p>&#8220;I wish I would&#8217;ve drove this (expletive) idiot to the (expletive) police station,&#8221; Nealy said of his co-defendant.</p><p>Battle, meanwhile, said nothing. Pilgrim could be heard, gasping, &#8220;He won&#8217;t even say sorry?&#8221;</p><p>When sentencing Battle, Lupas said he believes he has shown &#8220;no remorse.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;A young life was taken; families are left to cope with the crimes that were committed for the rest of their lives, being without their loved one,&#8221; said Lupas.</p><p>In addition to his life sentence without the possibility of parole, Battle was sentenced to spend between 240 and 480 months, or 20 to 40 years, in state prison on the conspiracy charge. That sentence will run consecutive to his life term.</p><p>Nealy was technically given a lighter sentence, being sentenced to 204 to 480 months, or 17 to 40 years, in state prison on the conspiracy charge. But that sentence, too, will run consecutive to his life term.</p><p>At the conclusion of sentencing, the two were remanded to a state prison.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL013119djmo1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David &#8216;D-Rock&#8217; Nealy was driving the vehicle that Roberto &#8216;Ruthless&#8217; Battle fired from in a 2013 drive-by shooting in Wilkes-Barre that killed Michael &#8216;DJ Mo&#8217; Onley. Nealy, like Battle, was sentenced to life in prison without a chance for parole. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL013119djmo1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>David &#8216;D-Rock&#8217; Nealy was driving the vehicle that Roberto &#8216;Ruthless&#8217; Battle fired from in a 2013 drive-by shooting in Wilkes-Barre that killed Michael &#8216;DJ Mo&#8217; Onley. Nealy, like Battle, was sentenced to life in prison without a chance for parole. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL013119djmo2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Roberto &#8216;Ruthless&#8217; Battle was sentenced to life in prison Thursday without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Michael &#8216;DJ Mo&#8217; Onley outside a Wilkes-Barre bar. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL013119djmo2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Roberto &#8216;Ruthless&#8217; Battle was sentenced to life in prison Thursday without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Michael &#8216;DJ Mo&#8217; Onley outside a Wilkes-Barre bar. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

DJ Mo’s killers sentenced to spend rest of their lives behind bars