17-34 years in cop-shooting

As the two narcotics officers sat crouched in the back of an unmarked surveillance van, a man they had just seen participating in what looked like a drug sale walked up to their vehicle and reached for his waistband.

"I see you hiding in there, p------. Do you wanna bang?" the man cried out to the plainclothes cops, one of the officers recalled yesterday.

Then, the man aimed a handgun at one of the officers and fired, shooting the front-driver's-side door of the van, parked on Apsley Street near Wayne Avenue in Germantown.

Neither officer was injured that Feb. 22, 2007, night.

In court yesterday, the gunman - Issa Benoit, 28, of Germantown - was sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Glynnis Hill to 17 to 34 years in state prison, followed by three years' probation.

A jury in October convicted Benoit of attempted murder, weapons offenses and aggravated assault against Officer Sean Devlin - the cop in the van who Benoit pointed his gun at.

Benoit faced a mandatory-minimum sentence of five to 10 years.

If the shooting had occurred more recently, he would have faced a much stiffer mandatory sentence. A bill signed into law by Gov. Rendell in October calls for a mandatory 20-year sentence for a person who shoots, or shoots at, a police officer.

Among the observers in court yesterday were state House Rep. Dennis O'Brien, R-Northeast Philadelphia, who was House speaker when the bill passed last year and was one of its main supporters.

O'Brien, who is also a friend of Officer Devlin's family, said after the hearing that this was the first sentencing he has attended involving a shooting at a police officer.

"Governor Rendell and I have been agonizing over the numerous police officers who have been killed," the lawmaker said.

O'Brien said he came to court for the same reason members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving packed courtrooms - to highlight the importance of an issue.

"I hope my presence in the courtroom will encourage others to pack the courtroom" in police-shooting cases, he said.

Earlier in court, Judge Hill said his sentence was based on various factors, including Devlin's victim-impact statement, the need to "protect our officers," and Benoit's "inexcusable" behavior.

"What you did was horrible," Hill told Benoit, "and I never thought of a sentence of five to 10 [for you], and it [the 17-to-34-year sentence] doesn't have anything to do with who's sitting in the courtroom."

The judge said he hoped his sentence will "send a message to other young people to not act the same way."

Assistant District Attorney Richard Boyd asked the judge to consider the "climate of the city" and the number of police officers who have been killed. He asked for a sentence of 25 to 50 years.

Benoit asked the judge for leniency and said, "In no way or shape do I condone violence." He also asked for "the chance to raise my children."

His mother, Jennifer Benoit, and grandmother, Margaret Trout, tearfully asked for leniency. After the sentencing, Jennifer Benoit left the courtroom hallway in tears and in anger.

During a break in yesterday's proceeding, Devlin, 34, recalled what happened about 9:30 that night. After Benoit said, "Do you wanna bang?" and fired a shot, he ran off, Devlin said.

Devlin and his partner, Officer Joseph Domico, who was also in the van, didn't see where he fled, but they got a good look at him beforehand.

Sometime shortly after the incident, Domico picked out Benoit's photo from a police archive.

The jury convicted Benoit of attempted murder and aggravated assault on Devlin, but acquitted him of those charges against Domico. Domico testified at trial that he had seen Benoit pointing the gun at Devlin.

After yesterday's hearing, Devlin and Domico said they were happy with the judge's sentence.

Merely a day before this shooting, another man, Kendall Hudson, allegedly rammed his Dodge Intrepid into police officers standing at Orianna and Wildey streets in Northern Liberties, hitting two. Hudson's trial on attempted murder and related offenses began Wednesday and will continue Tuesday in Judge John J. Poserina Jr.'s courtroom. *