A Manhattan judge handed down a two-to-four-year prison term Wednesday to a man convicted of punching a No. 5 subway train conductor.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Cori Weston imposed the agreed-upon sentence in the case against Leonard Johnson, 43, who pleaded guilty to attempted assault in January.
Johnson slugged the conductor as he poked his head out of his train window after the subway pulled into 42nd St.-Grand Central Station, according to court records.
The 55-year-old victim has worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority since 2014 and been a subway conductor since 2017. He was treated at a nearby hospital after the assault and released, and has since been off the job on workers’ compensation, according to Transport Workers Union Local 100.
Outside the courtroom, the president of Johnson’s union said he wanted to see tougher sentences for people convicted of assaulting transit workers.
“Something like this is beyond the injury. It’s more traumatic,” transit union leader John Chiarello said. “Just think about this: If you were a conductor, and you’re sticking your head out a window because that’s your job, and at any given time, somebody could punch you in the face, how would you feel? Why would anybody want to take the job?”
Tramell Thompson, the vice president of Rapid Transit Operations for the union, said the MTA conductor remains rattled by the incident.
“I spoke with him yesterday, and he’s still traumatized. He’s afraid to get on the train,” Thompson said. “He’s afraid to come out, period. That’s one of the reasons why he didn’t come to court today. But one thing we would like to see is more deterrence, you know? So we won’t have to come to court. We would like to see stronger laws on the books.”
During the brief court proceeding Wednesday, Johnson’s public defender, Beth Rennekamp, said she had not seen legal arguments in a dismissal motion he filed on his own behalf after he took a plea deal in January. Rennekamp declined to adopt those arguments. She said Johnson had serious mental health issues.
Despite those issues, the Manhattan district attorney’s office did not refer Johnson’s case to mental health court, where case outcomes are tailored to address the needs of recidivist offenders with psychiatric issues through comprehensive oversight and court-ordered treatment. The Legal Aid Society declined to comment when asked whether the man’s defense team had advocated for his case to proceed in the specialized court.
The dedicated court part, which in Manhattan operates solely at the discretion of Justice Juan Merchan, has seen promising results but is available only to a select few whose cases meet a narrowly defined set of terms, largely excluding allegations of violence, The News has previously reported.
