A 43-year-old man was granted parole by the Massachusetts Parole Board earlier this week, 17 years after he killed a man during a robbery in Lowell, where he and an accomplice stole a can of marijuana.
Dennis Ortega was 26 when he shot and killed Denis Osorio in 2008. Almost exactly five years later, Ortega pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in April 2013.
Ortega made his first appearance before the Parole Board in 2023. The board’s decision to grant his release after his second hearing this April was five to one.
On the evening of April 30, 2008, Ortega and an accomplice arrived at Osorio’s apartment in Lowell, intending to rob him. The two men entered, and as soon as they were inside, Ortega pulled out a gun and ordered Osorio to get down on the floor. When Osorio refused, Ortega shot him, the board wrote in its decision.
Ortega’s accomplice then grabbed a can full of marijuana and the men ran out the back door of the apartment, fleeing the area in Ortega’s car. Police spoke to Osorio at the scene, who told them Ortega shot him. Osorio later died of his gunshot wound.
A witness heard the gunshot and saw the man flee the apartment in a car registered to Ortega. Several other witnesses had overheard the two men plotting the robbery. Ortega also confessed to the robbery to his girlfriend, telling her he was concerned he could be linked to the killing because he had left his hat at the scene.
At Ortega’s first appearance before the board, members encouraged him to undergo mental health treatment and therapy. Since then, Ortega has “demonstrated a commitment to engaging in his mental health needs and is invested in continued treatment in the community,” the board wrote.
While in prison, Ortega has participated in all the programming available to him. He also maintained consistent employment and has established some financial security through his craftsmanship, the board wrote.
Ortega has strong family support to assist his reentry — his son, brother and cousin all spoke in support of his parole at the hearing. A Middlesex County prosecutor testified in opposition to his release.
As conditions of his release, Ortega must be supervised for drugs and liquor, have no contact with Osorio’s family and undergo mental health counseling for post-traumatic stress and anxiety.
Before being released, Ortega will spend a year in a lower security prison in Massachusetts. From there, the board ordered Ortega to undergo long-term residential treatment at Community Resources for Justice, which offers housing for those being released from prison.
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