PBA Furious As Man Guilty in Cop-Killing Gets Only 15 Years

PATRICK J. LYNCH: Accuses judge of copping out.

A man found guilty of a lesser charge in the 2007 killing of Police Officer Russel Timoshenko was sentenced to 15 years in prison Jan. 14 after he was convicted of gun possession but acquitted of murder.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Plummer Lott imposed three concurrent 15-year sentences for Mr. Ellis, contending that his interpretation of the law made it impossible to order consecutive sentences on the gun charges.

PBA Leader Outraged

Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch called the actions of the judge "a disgrace."

"Today in this court you saw the contrast between courage and disappointment once again," he told reporters outside the courtroom. "We had a family and a Police Officer, the victims of this animal, get up there and state unequivocally how their lives have changed, will never get better and how the pain never heals and there is no closure.

"The disappointment came in that there was not courage on the bench. There was not a judge that would say that this animal should be sentenced to 15 years on each charge consecutively. To say that it's one incident when he tried to kill two Police Officers and succeeded in killing one, he's wrong."

Mr. Ellis was tried at the same time as two other men who were with him when Mr. Timoshenko was fatally shot on July 9, 2007. Three different Brooklyn juries heard the same case against the three men but decided each one's fate separately.

Lee Woods's case resulted in a mistrial after one of the jurors got sick and the defense would not accept a replacement. Dexter Bostic, who was accused of firing the fatal shots, was the only one convicted of murder.

Mr. Timoshenko and his partner, Herman Yan, were in Crown Heights when they stopped what they thought was a stolen BMW. Two of the men inside the car allegedly opened fire, fatally injuring Mr. Timoshenko and wounding Mr. Yan.

Mr. Lynch said the bond between the public and law enforcement had been broken. "Police Officers each and every day go out in the street and defend this system," he told reporters Jan. 14. "Why has it not, once again, stood behind us? The bond that society has with Police Officers is broken once again. Not only in one borough, but in two."

Actor Lillo Brancato was acquitted of murder but convicted of robbery last month in The Bronx for his role as an accessory in the killing of Police Officer Daniel Enchautegui and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Steven Armento was found guilty of the actual murder in a previous trial.