Senator Gallivan Calls on Parole Board to Deny Parole for Convitced Cop Killer

Jim Ranney

June 9, 2018

Senator Patrick M. Gallivan (R-C-I, Elma) is urging New Yorkers to sign an online petition calling on the New York State Board of Parole to deny the release from prison of Anthony Bottom, who was convicted for his role in the brutal murders of two New York City police officers.

Bottom was one of three men convicted and sent to prison for gunning down and killing Officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones after luring them to a Harlem housing project in 1971. Officer Jones died instantly from a gunshot to the head.  Officer Piagentini, who begged for his life, was shot 22 times by the suspects and died on his way to the hospital.
 
Bottom is up for parole in June.

“Anthony Bottom’s release would be an affront to law-abiding citizens everywhere and minimize the seriousness of his heinous and violent act,” Senator Gallivan said. “Anthony Bottom and his co-defendants showed these officers no mercy and if they were convicted of these crimes today, they would be sentenced to life without parole.  I urge all New Yorkers to tell the parole board that Anthony Bottom should stay in prison where he belongs.”

Bottom's parole hearing comes on the heels of the State Parole Board's inexplicable decision to set notorious cop killer Herman Bell free, despite his role as the mastermind of this horrific crime and even though he refused for years to show any remorse for his actions. Senator Gallivan, the Chairman of the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections committee, has a link to the online petition on his website:  www.gallivant.nysenate.gov
 
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