A violent criminal previously convicted of rape and murder will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after brutally attacking a Long Island bus passenger less than three months after being released on parole.
Brian France, 62, of Coram, will serve at least 22 more years in prison for repeatedly bashing his victim in the head using a “padlock tied to a strap” during a bus ride from Patchogue to Coram, Suffolk County prosecutors said on Thursday.
France, who allegedly knew the victim from a Department of Social Services Housing building, also punched the man multiple times from behind before fleeing the scene, authorities said, citing video surveillance from the bus.
The unidentified victim survived the attack, but was treated at an area hospital after his “ear was split in half.”
The vicious beating took place on May 20 of this year, about 10 weeks after France was released from prison on parole.
France’s lengthy criminal history goes back to at least 1981, when he was convicted of rape and burglary and sentenced to two to six years, prosecutors said. In 1985, he was convicted of grand larceny and incarcerated again. In 1988, he received a sentence of 18 years to life for second-degree murder.
In 2005, while serving his term for the murder conviction, France was convicted of attempted assault and sentenced to additional time behinds bars.
France was finally released on parole in August 2020 before returning to prison in 2023 for violating the terms of that agreement. He was set free again on March 6 of this year.
According to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney, France serves as an argument against the “ill-advised Elder Parole Bill” being considered by state lawmakers.
“This murderer and rapist served over 32 years, but would have been released earlier under ‘Elder Parole,’” Tierney said Thursday. “He was out just over two months when he committed this violent assault.”
The bill would allow inmates who are 55 or older and have served at least 15 years of their sentence to be make their case for freedom before the state’s Board of Parole.
Supporters of the bill argue that New York State has a large number of inmates serving life sentences who are disproportionately Black and Hispanic.
