Syracuse Cop Killer Sentence Reduced

A man convicted of killing a Syracuse Police officer in 1990 has had his sentence reduced.
40-year old Robert Lawrence was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the murder of Wallie Howard.

At a hearing in Federal Court in Utica today, Judge David Hurd ruled that Lawrence would be eligible for parole in 2020 based on a Supreme Court ruling.

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that a mandatory sentence of lifetime imprisonment for anyone under the age of 18 was unconstitutional because it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Lawrence was 16 at the time of his conviction, he will be eligible for parole in 2020.