David Gilbert has sentence commuted for Brinks robbery

via The San Francisco Chronicle

Outgoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted clemency Monday to David Gilbert, the father of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Gilbert is serving a 75-years-to-life sentence for his participation in the fatal robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in 1981.

Gilbert, 76, will now be eligible for parole. He is one of six individuals who was granted clemency in Cuomo’s final hours as governor.

Gilbert, along with Chesa Boudin’s mother, Kathy Boudin, were members of the radical leftist organization Weather Underground. On Oct. 20, 1981, they joined members of the Black Liberation Army in the botched robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in New York.

Other members of the group shot and killed a Brink’s guard, Peter Paige, before killing two Nyack police officers, Waverly Brown and Edward O’Grady.

Chesa Boudin was 14 months old at the time.

Gilbert and Kathy Boudin were unarmed getaway drivers. They were charged and convicted under New York’s felony murder law, which holds that all participants in a felony that leads to a death can be charged with murder, even if they were not directly responsible for the killings.

Gilbert was ultimately convicted in 1983 of three counts of second-degree murder and four counts of first-degree robbery.

Kathy Boudin was paroled in 2003. Gilbert continues to serve his sentence at New York’s Shawangunk Correctional Facility.

Cuomo said he would resign rather than risk impeachment after a probe by the New York Attorney General’s Office concluded that he sexually harassed at least 11 women.

In a Monday statement announcing the clemency actions, Cuomo’s office said the six individuals have demonstrated “substantial evidence of rehabilitation and a commitment to their communities.”

“The march towards a more fair, more just, more equitable and more empathetic New York State is a long one, but every step forward we can take (is) worthwhile and important,” he said. “These clemencies make clear the power of redemption, encourage those who have made mistakes to engage in meaningful rehabilitation, and show New Yorkers that we an work toward a better future.”

Four of the other individuals who were granted clemency received commuted sentences, and one, 51-year-old Lawrence Penn, received a full pardon. Penn in 2015 pleaded guilty to first-degree falsifying business records and was incarcerated for two years.