Court sentences second New York lawyer in Molotov cocktail case

David Thomas

(Reuters) – A US court on Thursday sentenced disbarred lawyer Colinford Mattis to one year and one day in prison for his role in setting fire to an empty New York City police car with a Molotov cocktail during protests in May 2020 over the death of George Floyd . The Brooklyn Attorney’s Office announced this.

U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn also ordered Mattis, a former partner at Pryor Cashman law firm, to pay New York $30,107 in restitution and serve one year under supervision.

Lawyers for Mattis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 18 to 24 months for Mattis, arguing that shooting a police car with “homemade firebombs is an extremely dangerous criminal act that warrants a serious sentence.” They made the same recommendation to Mattis’ co-defendant Uruj Rahman, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison in November.

Mattis asked to serve time and then a year of supervised release so he could stay at home with his children.

Rahman, a former public interest lawyer who represented Bronx tenants, and Mattis pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit arson and possession of an explosive device.

Prosecutors said Rahman threw a gasoline-filled bottle through the already smashed window of a police car and fled in a minivan driven by Mattis in the early hours of May 30, 2020.

The incident occurred during protests in New York just days after a black Floyd was killed by a white Minnesota police officer who was later found guilty of murder in the case. Police made dozens of arrests during a protest in New York.

In November, a New York appeals court stripped Rahman and Mattis of their legal rights.

(Reporting by David Thomas; editing by David Bario and Christopher Cushing)

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