Quote:

Some good tips for the Councilperson-at-large to say to the Judge about her son, who got caught with drugs!

NO MERCY - Gets the max - 25 years - for shooting cops in station

Saturday, March 10, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A judge yesterday threw the book at the man who shot two cops after smuggling a gun into a Jersey City police station in 2005, sentencing him to 25 years in prison with no chance of parole until 2028.

"The message to you and others is there will be no break given to anyone who commits a crime like this," said state Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan, sitting in Jersey City.

Corey Harley, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder in October for shooting Officer Patrick Kirwin and Sgt. Tim Harmon in the Communipaw Avenue station on June 15, 2005. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a gun by a felon.

Yesterday's sentence includes prison terms for an unrelated drug dealing offense and a firearms offense that were pending against Harley at the time of the shooting. He still faces a federal charge that involves a gun, said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Davis Elston. Harley was in prison from June 15, 2001 to Dec. 30, 2003 for aggravated assault and a weapons offense.

Because of his record, Harley faced an extended sentence of 20 to 25 years.

"The only question is, is it better to protect the people of this city for 20 years or 25 years," Harmon said in addressing the court.

He said he has trouble talking about the shooting, but after the hearing he said: "I've never been in a situation like that - total chaos."

On the night of the shooting, Harley's girlfriend and her three children were at the police station getting a restraining order against him. Two officers found Harley at her home and brought him to the police station - somehow missing the fact that he had a gun.

Kirwin was shot in the back, but his bulletproof vest stopped the bullet; Harmon was struck in the belly, but the bullet hit no vital organs as it passed through his body. Both are back on duty.

Before the sentencing yesterday, Harley's mother, Denise Brown, asked the judge for leniency, saying Harley has been shot more than 30 times during his life and still has eight bullets in him.

"I'd like you to know, regardless of what other people say, my son is a good person and he was raised beautifully," Brown told the court.

Harley apologized to everyone, even the judge, and said the officers were very nice to him just before he opened fire. He said the whole thing was a misunderstanding that "could have been prevented."

Callahan said the shooting was a crime against the officers, the people they are sworn to protect, and the entire system.