Disgraced former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the first top cop in the city’s history to plead guilty to a crime, was sentenced today to four years in prison, reports the New York Daily News. The sentence for the former 9/11 hero – above the federal guidelines for his crimes – was issued in White Plains by US. District Judge Stephen Robinson.
The judge criticized Kerik, 54, who headed the police department when the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists, for abusing his national notoriety. “The fact that Mr. Kerik would use that event (9/11) for personal gain and aggrandizement is a dark place in the soul for me,” Robinson said. Kerik, addressing the court, asked for mercy. “Allow me to return to my wife and two little girls as soon as possible,” said an apologetic Kerik. The maximum sentence for Kerik’s eight guilty pleas to corruption charges was 61 years.