One of the men found guilty of killing a rookie cop in Brooklyn was sentenced today to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
Dexter Bostic, 36, was convicted in December of gunning down Officer Russel Timoshenko in July 2007 after he and his partner, Herman Yan, injured, pulled over a stolen BMW SUV in Crown Heights.
“He shot him twice – at point-blank range – in the face,” prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi said of Bostic while demanding the maximum sentence from Judge Plummer Lott.
Instead, Bostic blamed the NYPD and prosecutors — but not himself – for his conviction.
“As I sit here today, no longer the accused but the convicted, it astonishes me how our justice system could allow so many injustices to be thrusted upon me, before, during and even after my trial,” Bostic said as he read aloud a statement. “I’ve sat here for the duration of 19 months and it seems like the judicial process was circumvented for me at every turn.”
Bostic had been convicted in December of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and three counts of weapons possession.
Prosecutors charged that Bostic opened fire on Timoshenko from the front passenger seat.
Bostic’s DNA was on the .45-caliber handgun that matched the bullets that killed Timoshenko, and his fingerprint was on the passenger side door.
“I’m just glad he won’t kill anyone again,” said the slain officer’s mother Tatyana Timoshenko, who wiped away tears as the judge imposed the sentence.
Lee Woods, one of Bostic’s cohorts, faces a retrial this month after the judge ruled for a mistrial last year when a juror suddenly became sick.
Woods, 30, is also charged with the killing Timoshenko and Yan.
A third man, Robert Ellis, 35, was acquitted of the murder and attempted murder, though the jury convicted him on gun possession charges.
Last month, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.