Frank James, who pled guilty to terrorism charges for opening fire on a crowded N train in Brooklyn and injuring 10 straphangers last year, was sentenced Thursday to ten life sentences, plus an additional 10 years, in federal prison.
James boarded a rush hour Manhattan-bound N train in Brooklyn on the morning of April 12 last year, armed with guns and smoke bombs, and opened fire on straphangers near the 36th Street station in Sunset Park in one of the most violent attacks in the history of the subway system.
After setting off smoke bombs, he fired a Glock pistol 32 times and left 10 passengers with gunshot wounds, with many others injured in the mayhem, but no one died in the attack. Amid the chaos, James fled the scene, setting off a frantic citywide manhunt that ended more than a day later with his arrest in Manhattan’s East Village.
James pled guilty in January to federal terrorism and weapons charges. He has been incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, not too far from the site of the attack, since he was apprehended.
Prosecutors sought to throw the book at James, asking Judge William Kuntz to sentence the shooter to life behind bars, in the hops of deterring any other would-be terrorists from replicating his acts.
His public defenders, however, sought a lighter 18-year sentence. Upon pleading guilty, James told Kuntz that he did not actually intend to kill anyone in the attack, only to cause “serious bodily injury” to fellow passengers. On Thursday, Kuntz ruled that James had committed perjury and obstructed justice when making that statement — due to the premeditation, weaponry, and circumstances of the attack — in an attempt to lighten his sentence.
James’ attorney, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, described his acts as “despicable” and “senseless,” but characterized a life sentence as excessive for the 64-year-old James, who suffers a rash of health problems and has been hospitalized twice in the past month, first…
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