Remember how corrupt former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik was sentenced to four years in federal prison last month, for lying to the feds, tax fraud, and accepting $250,000 in apartment renovations from a mobbed-up company? One might assume Kerik is kicking it in some country club prison by now, but turns out that despite agreeing to a plea deal, he can appeal because the sentence exceeded the prosecutors' recommendation (33 months under federal guidelines). So Kerik, who's still under house arrest, just requested permission to travel to Washington to meet with a lawyer. And Judge Stephen Robinson, who told Kerik the case sent him to "a dark place in the soul" said no. Bernie is grounded. Can we get a ha-ha? more ›

After pleading guilty last month to aggravated assault in the 2002 death of limo driver Costas Christofi, former Nets player Jayson Williams was sentenced today to five years in prison. Williams, who was recently charged with drunk driving after crashing his Mercedes SUV into a tree near the FDR, will have to serve a minimum of 18 months in prison before he is eligible for parole, and then do a year for DWI if the Manhattan DA has his way. Before his sentencing today, the former NBA star reportedly offered a teary apology: more ›

Post columnist Cindy Adams paid a visit to corrupt former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik at his New Jersey home, just days before yesterday's sentencing. It's pretty engrossing stuff, especially if you enjoy reading about arrogant, self-serving public officials brought to their greedy knees. To pass the time during home confinement, Kerik's been working on a novel (with a ghost writer) about terrorists. And when he gets out of prison he plans to "maybe try counseling. Teaching that the lessons learned are you can't cut corners." Perhaps the hardest part about all this is the way people he thought were his friends, like Rudy Giuliani, have completely abandoned him: more ›

In a courtroom packed with several hundred spectators—some of them his ruined victims—Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin. In the courtroom, Madoff told Chin, federal prosecutors and his victims that he thought he could "work his way out" of fraud and that he lives in a "tormented state." He added that he lied to his brother and sons and that his wife Ruth Madoff cries herself to sleep each night. He did turn to face his victims briefly and said:

"I'm sorry; I know that doesn't help you. I cannot offer you an excuse for my behavior. "How do you excuse betraying thousands of investors who entrusted me with their life savings? How do you excuse deceiving 200 employees who spent most of their working life with me? How do you excuse lying to a brother and two sons who spent their entire lives helping to build a successful business? How do you excuse lying to a wife who stood by you for 50 years?"

Former New York City transit officer Christian Torres, 22, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for his armed robbery of $113,000 from a Reading, PA bank last April. You may recall that Torres's arrest in Reading came a year after his two successful 2007 robberies at a Sovereign branch in the East Village; he persuaded an ex-girlfriend who worked at the bank help him with those jobs, which netted him about $100,000. His lawyer tells the AP, "I think the fact that they got away with it empowered them, it sort of led to the next one, and then the next one. It is a shame. He's a bright kid, and he seems like a nice kid." Torres has cooperated with Sovereign Bank officials since his arrest to help them improve security (like not hiring scheming employees?), and U.S. District Judge Thomas Golden sentenced Torres at the bottom of the sentencing range. But he still faces charges for the two East Village bank heists; his lawyer says he's waiting to see the evidence before deciding if he'll try plea-bargaining on those charges. more ›

Graffiti haters rejoice: justice has been served. The Daily News reports that the tag happy globetrotter Danielle Bremner (aka Utah) will be doing some time behind bars for charges she faced in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. The damages in those boroughs caused by her tags is estimated to be around $35,000 (of a $100,000 bill of damages she's racked up worldwide), and she will be paying back just $10,000 of that as part of a plea deal. Her boyfriend and partner in crime, Jim Clay Harper, still has charges pending against him. And perhaps one day, upon their release, they'll have a nice, civilized chat in a book store with the vandal squad. more ›

Finally, would-be Empire State Building stunt jumper Jeb Corliss is at the end of his nearly three-year-long legal nightmare. In 2006 he attempted to jump from the building with a parachute, but his plan was foiled by security at the last minute. Since then he's been in and out of court, and more recently he was convicted, meaning he could face years behind bars. Well, yesterday was judgement day, and following Alain Robert's slap on the wrist, Corliss was "sentenced to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service," which he is allowed to serve out in his hometown of Malibu, California. No doubt a relief for the stuntman; when he was first facing a judge in 2006 he had said, "I live in a country whose motto is 'Land of the free.' I don't feel very free here." This time around Corliss called the judge: "a wonderful man." more ›

If you were appalled by previous accounts of serial rapist John Hamlett and his ruthless cross-examination of one of his distraught victims during his trial, you'll be pleased to know that he was sentenced to 154 years in prison yesterday. Hamlett, whose decision to act his own lawyer during witness testimony backfired spectacularly, was convicted on all 12 counts for repeatedly breaking into the same building on East Third Street and Avenue B and sexually assaulting his victims at knife point. In giving Hamlett the maximum sentence yesterday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley regretted that he could only incarcerate him for the rest of his life: "The sentence you deserve is beyond my ability to impose, so state prison will have to do." more ›

Jack Jordan, the man convicted of stalking actress Uma Thurman, received a sentence of three years probation today. On May 6th a jury found Jordan guilty of stalking and aggravated harassment. Prosecutors had wanted him to spend a year in jail, but the judge declined to order any jail time, opting for psychiatric counseling for the 37-year-old former mental patient. more ›

A U.S. District Court Judge sentenced one-time Credit Suisse investment banker Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem to ten years in prison for insider trading, stating that some Wall Street professionals were not getting the picture of the seriousness of the crime. While working at Credit Suisse's Global Energy Group in Manhattan, Naseem fed insider information to a partner in Pakistan, who used the tips to illegally amass almost $8 million in profits. more ›

In exchange for guilty pleas on a number of charges including assault of a fan, assault of his chauffer, driving with a suspended license and DUI, rap star Busta Rhymes avoided jail time and was sentenced yesterday to 10 days of community service. Sadly, we’ll be denied the publicity circus that swirled around Boy George and Naomi Campbell during their very public community services; Rhymes will have the privilege of choosing his own method of service at a “private, court-approved location.” (Will there be an after-party?) He’ll also pay fines and court costs amounting to – yes this figure you're about to read is correct – $1,510. more ›

Cordell Lochin is a bit of an enigma. The well-connected scenester, subject of an indulgent profile in the Observer last spring, presented himself as a partner in the obnoxiously affected nightspots La Esquina and The Box. Now the other entitled owners are distancing themselves from Lochin and the enigma will soon be wrapped inside a prison cell; Guest of a Guest has news that Lochin’s gotten sent up on a 3-year bid for involvement in a cross-border marijuana smuggling ring. more ›

Stephen Sakai was sentenced to 50 years to life after his conviction of murdering two men he worked with; he was acquitted in a third killing. The bouncer has yet to stand trial for the 2006 shooting of several patrons outside of the Chelsea nightclub. Sakai was convicted of stabbing 56-year-old Wayne Tyson to death in September 2005 and then executing Edwin Mojica with a shot to the back of the head just two months later. more ›