The DA is throwing the book at the one-legged ex-con millionaire who was convicted of assaulting a Russian stripper in January. Manhattan prosecutors want to sentence Thomas Hartmann, who was found guilty of smacking Sophia Kandelaki with his Rolex watch, to a year in prison for the misdemeanor assault. Hartmann's lawyer has asked for more time to respond to the prosecutions' 11th hour demand: "We're hoping he can stay out (of jail) altogether," said Joseph Tacopina. more ›

The Queens man who was found guilty of raping his ex-girlfriend and subsequently framing her for armed robbery—which caused her to lose her business and be jailed for months—has been sentenced to 32 years in jail. Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter tore into Jerry Ramrattan when he tried to plead for mercy earlier today; Ramrattan maintained his innocence, while touting his work stopping crimes as a police informant. "The defendant is an architect of his own ruin. He deserves no mercy from me and he won't get any," Buchter said, calling him a “diabolical conniver who shamelessly exploited the criminal justice system.” more ›

The political consultant who was convicted of stealing $1.1 million from Mayor Bloomberg's mayoral campaign was sentenced to one to four years in prison today. While probation was an option for John Haggerty, Supreme Court Justice Ronald Zweibel said he opted to send Haggerty to prison "in order to restore the public confidence in the electoral process and to serve as a deterent.” more ›

The two former police officers acquitted of raping an East Village woman are in court this morning. Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata were convicted of misdemeanor official misconduct in May and face up to two years in jail. more ›

Raymond Clark III pleaded guilty to killing Yale University doctoral student Annie Le in 2009 and was sentenced to 44 years in prison. After a search for the missing 24-year-old, Le's body was found on what would have been her wedding day, stuffed inside a wall at a Yale research building. Clark, a lab technician who was arrested based on DNA, keycard and video surveillance, said in a New Haven courtroom, "I stand here today taking full responsibility for my actions. I am truly, truly sorry for taking Annie’s life." more ›

In 2009, Kisha Jones attempted to kill her husband's lovechild by trying to trick his pregnant mistress, Monique Hunter, into taking an abortion-inducing medicine. Then, when Hunter gave birth, Jones attempted to take the baby of a respirator and get it to drink tainted milk. This all led to her pleading guilty to second-degree assault, which she blames on the hormones of also being pregnant at the time. Today, she was sentenced to four years in prison. But the good news is she gets to keep her man! more ›

Giants legend Lawrence Taylor was sentenced to six years probation for his May 2010 encounter with a 16-year-old at a Holiday Inn in Montebello, NY. Earlier this year, Taylor agreed to plead guilty to patronizing a prostitute and sexual misconduct, avoiding statutory rape charges. He will have to register as a sex offender and must pay a fine, and his lawyer apologized on behalf of LT, "He never wanted to tarnish his image. Mr. Taylor readily accepts responsibility." But know who did want to tarnish LT's image further? Ubiquitous lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing the now 17-year-old victim. more ›

So your friend is getting sentenced in court and you want to show him support. You are a good friend! But you know what isn't ok? Showing support by threatening the family of their victim. A group of Bronx Bloods discovered this the hard way yesterday at the sentencing of Robert Denis, 18, who will be spending the next 26 years behind bars for killing Rayquon Story in 2007. more ›

It's the oldest story in the book: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy concocts $33 million fraud scheme to impress girl. And now, that boy is going to jail: accountant to the stars Kenneth Starr was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison yesterday for defrauding celebrity clients and his other investors. And it was all for the love of a good former stripper. "I can't believe I did what I did. I lost my moral compass," Starr told the court. more ›

Two teens who killed a Chinese newspaper executive who was sleeping in his car in 2009 were sentenced to 20 and 22 years in prison. Corey Azor, who was 16 at the time of the killing, and Chris Levy, who was 17 at the time, admitted they went into the car, put David Kao into a chokehold, and then dragged the 49-year-old into the backseat where they strangled him. They pleaded guilty for manslaughter and robbery; Azor got 20 years, while Levy got 22 years. more ›

Earlier today Trent Young, a 42-year-old former NYPD officer, was sentenced to 262 months in jail for transporting three different minors across state lines for illegal sexual activity. It is highly unlikely that Young will get a chance to serve his nearly 22 years in jail though—his sentence was delivered to him at the prison ward of the Westchester Medical Center where he is currently being treated for a cancer that the FBI refers to as terminal. more ›

Last May Somali pirate Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse made an about face and pled guilty to hostage-taking, kidnapping, hijacking and conspiracy in the 2009 taking of the ship the Maersk Alabama (as well as two others). Today he was sentenced to 33 years and nine months in prison—the maximum penalty. "I got my hands into something that was more powerful than me, and I have been sorry about what I did," he said through an interpreter before the sentence was delivered. "I got my hands into something that was more powerful than me." more ›

Jaime Marin Lopez Mendoza, the 27-year-old Dream Hotel employee who was convicted of raping a guest, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the assault. In December 2009 Mendoza had sneaked into a female guest's room, knowing that she and her boyfriend had come back intoxicated, and began to have sex with her as she slept. When she awoke to find him on top of her, he fled. Mendoza said at the sentencing, "I just want to say God bless you all, and to forgive us all. I will continue to fight for my freedom here because I am not a rapist." more ›

Former Manhattan court juvenile counselor Tony Simmons, who was found guilty of molesting two teens but acquitted of a rape he had previously pleaded guilty to, has been sentenced to four years in prison. Simmons was initially sentenced to 10 years' probation for the crimes, but spent so much time talking about how much his victims enjoyed his behavior that a judge tossed out the deal and he faced trial a second time. Four years was the maximum sentence. more ›

This week, a federal appeals court in Manhattan overturned an upstate Judge's ruling that a defendant caught with child pornography needed a harsher punishment because he was born with an "as-of-yet undiscovered gene" that predisposed him to look at child pornography. more ›

Daniel Rodriguez, the 22-year-old man accused of viciously beating Jack Price in 2009 because he is gay, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for hate crime. He pleaded guilty last year to first-degree robbery as a hate crime, even though his father didn't believe him. Rodriguez said in court, "Through the grace of God I hope someday Jack Price will forgive me." more ›

Yesterday, Jeromie Cancel was sentenced to 25 years for killing a 19-year-old Pace University student in 2008. Cancel was found guilty of strangling Kevin Pravia in Pravia's Chelsea apartment—Cancel also admitted to staying in the apartment to watch a horror movie— and his murder victim's family were aghast at his boisterous behavior during the sentencing. Pravia's brother yelled at Cancel, who had been giggling, "I'll f---ing kill you, mother-f---er!" Cancel replied, "Come see me on Riker's Island!" which led to Pravia's father to say, "I'll see you in hell!" more ›

Last week, many were outraged over the case of Tony Simmons, who was sentenced to no prison time and 10 years' probation after admitting to raping three teenage girls who were left in his care while he was working as a counselor at the Department of Juvenile Justice. People were especially shocked that the judge who gave the sentencing is a woman. Today, Judge Cassandra Mullen tossed out the previous deal, saying, "This defendant does not admit his guilt, and more alarming, has no understanding that his conduct was wrong. And perhaps most outrageously blames the victims, demonstrating a depravity that shocks the conscience of this court." more ›

Aafia Siddiqui—a neuroscientist and wife of accused 9/11 plotter Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali—was sentenced to 86 years in prison on Thursday after being found in Afghanistan with two pounds of "poison" and plans to attack New York City. The hearing was filled with theories about plotting jailers, "terrorists posing as Hispanics," and Israel being behind the 9/11 attacks. Siddiqui eventually pleaded for forgiveness, saying, "This may shock the Muslims, and I don't mean disrespect...but I do love America, too, and there is no harm." After her sentencing, angry protests broke out at the courthouse and in Pakistan, where protesters yelled, "Down with America!" and threw shoes at pictures of President Obama. more ›

A man found guilty of killing his estranged wife by poisoning her coffee with cyanide was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison today. David Steeves allegedly put cyanide, bought off the internet, in his wife's coffee on October 18th, 2008 and then left the house. When he returned he found her on the floor, and took her to the hospital. He then fled with their two teenage sons to England. But the boys knew what was up, and wrote to the judge that their father deserved "no mercy." more ›

At his sentencing yesterday, convicted rapist Ralph DiMassi yelled at the Brooklyn judge for issuing an order of protection against him on top of sentencing him to 70 years in prison. He shouted, "You gimme 70 years so how am I gonna see her?" But the judge showed no sympathy for DiMassi, who was found guilty of raping a woman in her Bay Ridge apartment in 2008. The victim said at the sentencing, "It was the most degrading, humiliating and horrifying experience of my life." more ›

Earlier this week, a judge sentenced activist lawyer Lynne Stewart to an additional ten years in prison. In 2006, Stewart was sentenced to four years (considered too low by critics) for smuggling messages from a radical leader to his followers in Egypt, but more recently an Appeals Court had suggested she receive more prison time. Judge John Koetl noted on Thursday that Stewart's remarks about her 28-month sentence—specifically how she "could do [28 months] standing on my head"—plus finding that she perjured herself during the trial showed the original sentence wasn't sufficient. more ›

Carmen Huertas, who, while driving drunk, fatally crashed her car on the West Side Highway, killing her daughter's friend and injured six other, is hoping for kindness from a judge. According to the Daily News, her lawyer wants the judge to let her "plead guilty to a top manslaughter charge but give her less than the 5-to-15 year prison term prosecutors are demanding." Defense lawyer Steve Rubin claims Huerta was abused by "many different individuals" in the past, "It's a whole history of who Carmen Huertas is... [That] doesn't excuse, but explains her behavior." The father of the dead girl has previously said he wants Huertas to serve at least ten years, "She took my child away - she has to pay for that." more ›

Efrain Gonzalez Jr., who lost his 2008 Bronx State Senate primary to...Pedro Espada Jr., was sentenced for 7 years in prison for "conspiracy and fraud. Prosecutors said he had stolen [over $700,000] from nonprofit groups to cover personal expenses." The judge said, "He has brought public disgrace onto himself and onto the state Senate." The "portly" Gonzalez rolled his eyes and later said he'd appeal the sentence and added, "We Hispanics, we have to unite. It's not fair what they're doing to us. I feel like an illegal immigrant." more ›

One of the many involved a massive insider trading ring was sentenced yesterday, and U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said of hedge fund co-founder Mark Kurland, "He had a choice as a leader of the financial industry. He could have led by example. Instead, he chose to follow. He became a joiner, surrendering to the spree of the financial market's virtual mob mentality that nearly brought down this country's financial industry in the quest for ever bigger and faster gains." Kurland pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud and will serve two years and three months, plus must forfeit $900,000 he made; he said he was heartbroken and his actions "destroyed my reputation and everything I have worked hard for my entire life." more ›

Yesterday word got out that Poster Boy, 28-year-old Henry Matyjewicz, was tossed in the slammer on Friday after missing his court appearance last week. The street artist claims to have had the date wrong, and showed up one day late apologizing. more ›

"Thank you, guys. We'll be fine," former State Senator Joseph Bruno told his daughters yesterday after being sentenced to two years in prison for wire and mail fraud. Judge Gary L. Sharpe's sentence was much lighter than the eight year bid prosecutors wanted, and the 81-year-old Bruno is in no immediate danger of going up the river because the Supreme Court still has to rule on the so-called "honest services" provision of federal fraud laws (more on that here). And if even if that ruling doesn't swing in his favor, there are always the appeals. But hey, at least he had to hear a stern reprimand from the judge: more ›

Subway ad slasher Poster Boy is back in the news (just in time for his book release!). According to the NY Post, the 28-year-old Henry Matyjewicz dodged jail time thanks to an oversight by Justice Michael Gary. Last year the street artist negotiated a probation deal with the DA, which evaporated when he was arrested again soon after. But yesterday Gary told the court that he had neglected to warn Matyjewicz that if he got arrested again the deal would be off. So he goes free! And he didn't even show up to court to hear the good news himself. His lawyer told the paper, "It should have been a happy day for him, but he wasn't there." more ›

Michael Douglas is speaking out about his 31-year-old son Cameron's recent 5 year jail sentence, which he received after dealing methamphetamine, conspiring to sell crystal meth and for heroin possession. With some saying his son should have received a 10-year sentence, the actor insinuated on the Today Show that he didn't receive any special treatment, saying, “I don’t think a lot of people said [that Cameron received a celebrity sentence]. One particular newspaper here in New York was pretty mean-spirited and vindictive about the whole process.” Guess we know which newspaper he's talking about! more ›

Natavia Lowery, who was found guilty of murdering her former boss—real estate mogul Linda Stein—back in October of 2007, was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison. The sentencing was delivered by Justice Richard D. Carruthers, who said, “Ms. Lowery has shown by her actions that she is a very dangerous young woman who acted without regard for any human compassion." more ›