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July 12, 2007

Ex-FBI agent gets 2 1/2 years for assault on marshal

A federal judge today sentenced retired FBI special agent Gary L. John to 2 ½ years in prison for assaulting a U.S. marshal trying to place him under arrest.

John, formerly of 110 Post Rd., Westerly, had been on the lam for two months, when U.S. marshals working with Rhode Island Sheriffs Department, tracked him to Stratford, Conn., in December 2005. He was wanted in Rhode Island at the time for allegedly violating orders barring him from contacting his ex-wife and for failing to appear in court.

The marshals were acting on a tip that John was living with a woman and supporting himself through odd jobs, such as splitting wood and driving a limousine, said Charles J. Wyant, of the Rhode Island U.S. Marshal’s office.

John, 58, swung at a deputy marshal trying to take him into custody, court records show. He was arrested after a struggle and charged with felony assault on a federal marshal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A federal jury found him guilty of the charge in January.

Judge Janet C. Hall additionally sentenced John to three years’ supervised release and fined him $4,000 today in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, Conn., said Thomas Carson, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut. He had faced up to 8 years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000.

“This sentence should send an appropriate message that assaults on federal law enforcement officers will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O’Connor said in a release.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 2:39 PM | Permalink

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