A jury acquitted a man on charges of shooting a Boston police officer in the leg during a traffic stop in 2016 but convicted him on related weapons charges.
The jury ruled on June 14 that Grant Headley, 32, was not guilty of charges including armed assault with intent to murder and drug charges related to the shooting of Officer Kurt Stokinger. A judge sentenced Headley on Monday to eight to 10 years in prison on the weapons charges.
Authorities had said Headley got out of his car and shot Stokinger in the city's Dorchester neighborhood in January 2016 after being pulled over. Police said they pulled Headley over because he was out on probation, known to be selling drugs and driving on a suspended license.
Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins had asked the judge for a longer sentence.
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"While my staff and I are disappointed that we were not able to hold this defendant accountable for the violent armed assault of a Boston Police officer, we respect the jury's decision and are grateful for their work on this case," she said in a statement.
Stokinger, who had been on the force for nine years when he was shot, has not been able to return to duty because of his injuries, according to Superintendent-in-Chief Gregory Long, the department's acting commissioner.
"It is the Department's firm belief that, despite the jury's verdict, the evidence warranted the conviction of Headley for shooting Officer Stokinger," Long said.
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An attorney for Headley, Jessica Tripp, thanked Judge Paul B. Krupp in a statement to the Boston Globe.
"My client and I are thankful to Judge Krupp for sentencing him under the statutory guidelines based on the charges he was convicted of," she wrote in an email.
