Frank James Gets 10 Life Sentences For 'Horrific' BK Subway Shooting

BROOKLYN, NY — Brooklyn subway shooter Frank James was sentenced to 10 concurrent life sentences and an additional 10 years in prison Thursday, according to U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. The sentencing comes more than a year after he opened fire in a subway car, injuring 10 people and gripping the city in terror.

James' lawyers plan to appeal the sentence, a representative of the U.S. Attorney's office said.

"Today, Frank James was justly held accountable," Peace said Thursday outside the courthouse.

Victims took the stand Thursday and recounted the April 2022 mass shooting, when James, 64, set off a smoke bomb and sent volleys of bullets ricocheting through a crowded Sunset Park N train, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

James did not kill any straphangers, but injured 10 people who "would have died" had they not been rushed to hospitals, Peace said.

“We can only imagine the terror that the passengers in that car experienced that morning," Peace said Thursday outside the courthouse. "The victims, not just those who are wounded physically but also those who witnessed this horrific act... will live with these traumatic events for the rest of their lives."

"It is my hope the harsh punishment handed down by the court helps bring closure and a sense of justice to the victims," said FBI Special Agent Rob Kissane.

In September, James' attorneys made a last-ditch effort to have James' sentence reduced to 18 years — but prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's office contended a lengthy sentence would more appropriately address James' crimes.

Prosecutors recommended 10 concurrent life sentences.

"Miraculously, no one died from the defendant’s actions," prosecutors said in a letter to judge William Kuntz.

"But the mental and physical impact on the victims continues to this day. To adequately punish the defendant’s senseless violence that changed the course of dozens of people’s lives, a serious punishment is necessary."

James in January pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges — changing his tune after initially claiming he would fight the charges and refusing to appear in court.

Even still, James' lawyers say he was not out for blood, a claim that prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's office said was bogus.

"James is not evil," Federal Defenders attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg wrote in a letter to judge Kuntz. "He is very, very ill."