2nd sentencing in shootings
ELMIRA, N.Y. (AP) -- An escaped convict who shot and wounded a New York state trooper was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison Wednesday, a day after he was given life without parole for shooting two other troopers, one of whom died.
Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, 44, whose dramatic capture in September ended the longest manhunt in state history, tried again unsuccessfully to withdraw his guilty plea before being handed the maximum penalty for the attempted murder of Trooper Sean Brown.
Brown, 31, was shot in the abdomen when he approached a car Phillips had stolen during a June 10 traffic stop. Brown has since recovered and returned to duty.
On Tuesday, Phillips was sentenced in Chautauqua County court to life in prison without parole for shooting Joseph Longobardo and Donald Baker Jr. while the troopers staked out the rural home of Phillips' former girlfriend Aug. 31.
Longobardo died of his wounds and Baker was hospitalized for three months after being shot in the torso.
Phillips was also sentenced Tuesday in Buffalo court to 25 years to life for escaping from an Erie County jail in April by using an industrial can opener to cut a hole in a kitchen ceiling. He spent five months on the run before being captured just across the Pennsylvania line Sept. 8.
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