Overview
- Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee for New York governor, said at City Hall on Monday he would grant a first‑day pardon to ex‑NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran.
- Duran is serving a three‑to‑nine‑year term after a February bench conviction for second‑degree manslaughter and last week’s sentence by Bronx Judge Guy Mitchell.
- Duran’s lawyers have filed an appeal and asked for bail during the process, as the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association and the National Police Defense Foundation launched a legal fund.
- Prosecutors from Attorney General Letitia James’ office sought a five‑to‑15‑year term, and the judge said the sentence was meant to serve as a general deterrent to other officers.
- The case stems from an August 2023 Bronx drug sting in which Duran threw a bystander’s cooler at Eric Duprey as he fled on a scooter, a fatal crash that has become a campaign issue covered as an injustice by right‑leaning outlets and as unjustified force by Gothamist.