A Brooklyn judge listened to a convicted cop killer recite poetry, then sentenced him to the maximum prison term possible under the law.
Dexter Bostic shot NYPD Officer Russel Timoshenko twice in the face during what started as a routine traffic stop in July 2007. Officer Timoshenko died days later. Bostic was also convicted of attempted murder of Officer Timoshenko's partner Herman Yan.
Bostic got life without parole plus 55 years from Judge Plummer Lott, who said the evidence of guilt was overwhelming.
A second defendant, Robert Ellis, was convicted only of gun possession and sentenced last month to 15 years. The case of a third accused killer, Lee Woods, ended in mistrial late last year. Woods' retrial began right after the Bostic hearing.
In several minutes of comments to the court before being sentenced, Bostic apologized to his family for not demanding better performances from his attorneys. He said an injustice had been committed and recited a poem by the 18th century English poet William Hayley.
Officer Timoshsenko's parents and partner Officer Yan watched from a gallery packed with uniformed police officers. Only Assistant District Attorney Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi spoke on behalf of the victim. She said Bostic had "murdered the entire Timoshenko family" with his bullets.
Outside the courtroom afterward, PBA President Patrick Lynch said "the swine who took an officer's life is going where he belongs forever."
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In the same hallway, the slain officer's mother, Tatyana Timoshenko, added: "I'm just happy one evil out of street. And he will never hurt anyone else."
