This just in: 17-year-old Anthony Pacherille, who shot classmate Wesley Lippitt and then himself in the Cooperstown police station last year, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. The Daily Star reports:
The 11-year sentence will be reduced by the time Pacherille has already spent in jail, making his prison sentence about 9 1/2 years. He was also sentenced to 5 years of post-release supervision by Judge Brian Burns.
Pacherille pled guilty to attempted murder charges in April. WKTV reported that under the terms of his plea agreement, Pacherille does not face any hate crime charges, but did admit to a racial motivation for the shooting in court.
Otsego County Court Judge Brian Burns denied WKTV's request to videotape the proceeding, but Pacherille told the judge "I shot Mr. Lippitt because he was African American."
Members of Pacherille's family shouted "that's a lie," and and one uncle was even thrown out of court for his outburst.
Just after the shooting, the New York Times sent reporter (and publisher's son) A.G. Sulzberger up to Cooperstown to report on the incident, which continues to be a painful and divisive issue in the community. Here's Sulzberger's April 5, 2010 feature on the incident.
