'70s radical David Gilbert granted parole in Brink's robbery

[George II]

Source: Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Former Weather Underground radical David Gilbert has been granted parole after 40 years behind bars for his role in a deadly 1981 Brink’s robbery that was a violent echo of left-wing extremism born in the 1960s, the state corrections department said Tuesday.

Gilbert, 76, has been imprisoned since shortly after the infamously botched armored car robbery in which a guard and two police officers were killed. He became eligible for parole only after his 75 years-to-life sentence was shortened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August, hours before he left office.

Gilbert appeared before the state parole board Oct. 19 and was subsequently granted parole, Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the New York state corrections department, said Tuesday.

He will be able to leave Shawangunk Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley next month.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/david-gilbert-brinks-robbery-parole-00031ee4e41661034cc79086e2aa6ade

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This was a huge story back during the Vietnam War era. The proceeds of the robbery were intended to finance the Black Liberation Army, but the aftermath of the Brink's robbery eventually brought an end to the BLA. The robbers were assisted by former members of the Weather Underground.

The cold-blooded brutality of the murders made headlines around the world.

[marble falls]

1. About time.

[George II]

2. From what I read, he was the least culpable (only one unarmed) and was imprisoned the longest.

[marble falls]

3. We love to put years on folks, bury them under the prison. Nowhere in the civilized world would ...

... he have been sentenced to more than twenty years. And out in twelve. It was stupid, cruel and inhumane.

[Skittles]

5. three people were killed

twelve years?

[marble falls]

7. A 1000 year would be enough? A serious question. Is the objective to rehabilitate ...

... the murderer and limit murder in society or to get even?

[Skittles]

9. twelve years is not enough for three murders

nope

[marble falls]

10. Fact is: he wasn't armed and he shot no one. Two ex-convicts in the group carried without ...

... anyone else knowing. Those two did the murdering. And they've been released for a while.

Why does the US have the harshest sentences in the first world and the highest murder rates?

Because over sentencing prisoners doesn't work.

[Skittles]

13. fact is

when you participate in an endeavor that ends up with people dead, you are responsible

[marble falls]

11. From the NYT ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/26/nyregion/david-gilbert-brinks-parole.html

“Although he never used a gun or intended for anyone to get hurt, my father’s crime caused unspeakable harm and devastated the lives of many separate families,” Mr. Boudin said in the statement. “I will continue to keep those families in my heart; I know they can never get their loved ones back.”

In announcing the decision to grant Mr. Gilbert clemency, Mr. Cuomo cited his work in AIDS education and prevention while he was incarcerated, as well as his work as a teacher and law library clerk.

-snip-

Kathleen Pequeño echoed that view. Her brother, Army Specialist Edward Pimental, was killed by a terrorist faction as part of an attack on the U.S. air base in Germany in 1985. She met with Mr. Gilbert as part of what she described as a lifelong effort to heal after that act of political violence and was among thousands of people who wrote letters urging his release.

-snip

“I think about the families that lost loved ones,” she said. “Continuing to punish him isn’t going to bring them back.”

-snip-

[Skittles]

14. "he caused unspeakable harm"

yes he did

I understand the sentiment....I believe Leslie Van Houten should be granted parole....but twelve years for three deaths is not enough....was forty too much? Possibly, due to the extenuating circumstances.

over and out

[former9thward]

6. It was his own doing.

He basically represented himself in court and was defiant. Had he not made those choices he could have been out years ago.

[marble falls]

8. So he deserved an out of porportion sentence because he pissed off a judge and prosecution ...

... that if he'd only shown the proper deference in his defense he'd have gotten the standard twenty to life and been out in twelve.

He may have been charged criminally, but he was sentenced politically.

Time Served in State Prison, 2016
[Search domain bjs.ojp.gov] https://bjs.ojp.gov › content › pub › pdf › tssp16.pdf
Excluding deaths, the average time served for murder or non-negligent manslaughter would be 11.2 years. ~Not applicable. a. Excludes time served in jail. b. The statistical median represents the value at which 50% of the values . are larger and 50% are smaller in a sequence of numbers. c.

[former9thward]

12. I did not say he "deserved" the sentence.

I said he made a choice and got the sentence. Yes, if you piss off the prosecution and judge you will get a harsher sentence. That is the real world.

[Torchlight]

15. Maybe additional jurists who act more professionally in the real world would go a long way.

The real world is what we collectively make of it. If it currently means the application of justice rests on the bad mood of a judge or lawyer, it then means we collectively allow a real world which in part, favors irritability over justice.

[BradAllison]

4. My thoughts go to those who died in the robbery and their family.

Hope it was all worth it.