Subway assailant Frank James pleaded for a lenient sentence for numerous terrorism charges in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday morning, including firing multiple shots in a congested train last year, reported the Daily News
James, 64, who released smoke bombs, discharged 32 bullets and wounded 10 passengers in the April 12, 2022, rush-hour attack, had no regard for the lives of the travelers. But it wasn’t his intention to kill anyone, his lawyers said in a letter to a Brooklyn Federal Court judge on Tuesday.
“Mr. James is not evil. He is very, very ill,” wrote Mia Eisner-Grynberg of the Federal Defenders, explaining how “his entire life had been defined by trauma and hardship, inexplicably bound up in his untreated severe mental illness.”
James’ sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28 before Brooklyn Federal Court Judge William Kuntz. According to federal sentencing measures, he faces 32 to 37 years in prison, however federal prosecutors may request a lengthier period. A life sentence is probable.
James’ lawyer states that he’s afflicted with numerous health complications and doesn’t believe he’ll survive the 18-year sentence.
Prosecutors alleged when James pleaded guilty in January that it was his intention to commit murder when he unloaded his weapon on a crowded N train as it stopped in the 36th St. Station in Sunset Park. James set off smoke bombs to drive all the victims to the other side of the passenger car, and was targeting the riders in mass, the feds say.
