The five former NOPD officers accused of shooting unarmed men following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 pleaded guilty at their re-arraignment hearing, Wednesday.
Judge Kurt Engelhardt read out the proposed plea deal for Arthur Kaufman, Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon, and Anthony Villavaso, suggesting 10 years incarceration for Bowen and Gisevius, 12 years for Faulcon, 7 years for Villavaso, and 3 years for Kaufman.
All of the men have been imprisoned since July of 2010 and will be credited for time served, WGNO TV reports. Judge Engelhardt accepted the plea deal. He told the court, typically, judges will review a pre-investigation report and schedule a sentencing within 60 days, but under the case’s circumstances, he did not want to delay.
The original seven-count indictment against the five former cops was filed in 2010. 11 years ago, six days after Hurricane Katrina, four of the officers shot and killed two unarmed men on the Danziger Bridge over New Orleans' Industrial Canal. They also injured four others. Nearly five years ago, they were convicted, receiving sentences ranging from 38 to 65 years but those sentences were overturned. Sergeant Arthur Kaufman was sentenced to six years in prison for helping with the cover-up.
