Jeffrey Conroy moved from jail to state prison

Jeffrey Conroy left the Suffolk County jail Friday morning to begin his prison sentence for the fatal stabbing of Marcelo Lucero, but he soon may return to Long Island for removal of his swastika tattoo.

The state Supreme Court justice who on Wednesday sentenced Conroy to 25 years in prison ordered that the Medford teen be allowed to keep a June 14 appointment to complete the tattoo's removal from his upper thigh, Conroy's attorney and his father said Friday.

Conroy's family had hoped to visit him Saturday in the Riverhead jail. But when his father, Robert Conroy, called the jail Friday afternoon, he learned his son had been transferred to Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill.

"I just tried to call Fishkill and they won't tell me nothing," Conroy said. "How many times is this kid going to be screwed over?"

The county jail is required to relinquish an inmate when state correctional officials order the person transferred to prison, said Michael Sharkey, chief of staff of the Suffolk Sheriff's Office, which operates the jail. For security reasons, the families of inmates are not told in advance when a prisoner is to be taken away, Sharkey said.

Jeffrey Conroy, 19, of Medford, arrived at the Fishkill prison on Friday and will be held in protective custody "due to the notoriety of the crime," said Linda Foglia, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Correctional Services.

The former Patchogue-Medford High School athlete was convicted in April of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime for the November 2008 death of Lucero near the Patchogue train station.

Conroy's attorney, William Keahon of Hauppauge, said Justice Robert W. Doyle ordered Conroy held in Riverhead until the tattoo was removed. He said he would speak to Doyle on Tuesday in the hope of having Conroy moved back to Riverhead.

"They can't supersede a judge's order," Keahon said, referring to state correctional officials.

Doyle could not be reached for comment Friday.

While still in jail awaiting sentencing, Conroy visited a laser removal provider on May 14 to begin having the tattoo removed, Robert Conroy said. A second visit is necessary to complete the tattoo removal, his father said.