A member of the Crips has been sentenced to over three decades in prison for nearly killing an FBI agent in 2018, according to the New York Post. A judge handed down a 31-year sentence to Ronell Watson in a Brooklyn federal court this month after Special Agent Christopher Harper told the court how his brush with death changed his life. “I survived, but I was harmed both physically and emotionally,” said Harper to Judge Williams Kuntz. “The emotional pain though … is in many ways worse than the physical pain.”
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The jury convicted Watson of attempted murder and assault in 2019 for the shooting Harper, who was on an undercover stakeout when he was shot. Harper was looking for another suspect from his vehicle when Ronell shot him in the shoulder. Prosecutors said Ronell drove down the wrong one-way street when he opened fire on Harper who returned fire.
Ahead of his sentencing, Watson said he was “truly, deeply remorseful and sorry” for the shooting. His attorney asked the judge for leniency in sentencing Watson because of his glaucoma and”extremely harsh conditions” in jail.
Today, justice has been served,” Acting US Attorney Mark Lesko said. “This Office is gratified by the lengthy prison sentence the court imposed on Watson for his senseless, cold-blooded and unprovoked shooting of Special Agent Harper, who came close to losing his life.”