Ex-Officer gets 5 years for shootings cover-up

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Dec 1, 5:36 PM EST
Ex-Officer gets 5 years for shootings cover-up
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A former police officer has been sentenced to the maximum of five years in prison for helping cover up deadly shootings of unarmed residents on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon said Thursday that the five-year cap on Robert Barrios' sentence for pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge was a sufficient reward for his cooperation.

The 30-year-old Barrios is one of five former officers who pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up to make it appear police were justified in shooting six people - killing two - on the Danziger Bridge days after the 2005 storm hit.

Five other current or former officers who were convicted in August of civil rights violations stemming from the shootings are scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 14.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_KATRINA_BRIDGE_SHOOTINGS?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Damn! They took their sweet time!

[No Elephants]

2. Good. I hope he serves it all.

[Downtown Hound]

3. Anybody who wasn't a cop would have gotten way more time. n/t

[IDemo]

4. Prison for New Orleans cop in Katrina shooting

Source: Raw Story

A former New Orleans police officer was sentenced to five years in prison for helping cover up a deadly shooting in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005.

Ten New Orleans police officers have been convicted in a federal probe into a police shooting on September 4, 2005 that killed two civilians and seriously injured four others on the city’s Danziger Bridge, just after the hurricane.

Robert Barrios was the last of five police officers being sentenced who was linked to the shooting and cooperated with investigators.

Barrios was in a group of police officers who drove to the bridge after five other police officers had opened fire against the civilians.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/02/prison-for-new-orleans-cop-in-katrina-shooting/

[freshwest]

5. I had doubts anything would be done. A miserable chapter of American history.