A Longwood man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for beating and hospitalizing an Uber driver who asked him to exit his vehicle after a ride ended.

Seminole County prosecutors convicted MARQUIS A. DELCAMPO at trial in January of aggravated battery on rideshare driver Jovanny Mercado Guzman in 2023.  Assistant State Attorneys Domenick Leo and Martine McCarthy also convinced the jury that Delcampo, 34, should receive a more severe sentence as a Prison Releasee Reoffender and Habitual Felony Offender based on his criminal record.

At a hearing Feb. 23, Circuit Judge Jessica Reckseidler sentenced Delcampo to serve a minimum of 15 years as a Prison Releasee Re-Offender (with no time off for good behavior) followed by five more years as a Habitual Felony Offender.

Seminole County Sherriff’s investigators said the violent incident started at about 8:50 a.m. on February 22, 2023, when the driver stopped his SUV on East State Road 436 in Casselberry, got out, opened the rear passenger door and motioned for Delcampo to exit as the ride had concluded.  Delcampo refused to exit the victim’s vehicle and argued that he had paid to ride and wanted to keep going.  He then got out and started punching Mercado Guzman in the face and head.

At trial, Leo and McCarthy presented evidence including witnesses’ phone video of the attack, video surveillance from a nearby business, Uber records, eyewitness testimony identifying Delcampo as the passenger, and photos and medical records of the then-50-year-old victim’s cuts, contusions, broken nose and fractured upper jawbone. 

As part of his sentence, Delcampo was ordered to pay $2,500 toward the cost of prosecution, which included hiring a doctor to testify and verify the victim’s injuries.