Anthony Borrelli

aborrelli@pressconnects.com | @PSBABorrelli

A menace, a coward and a drunk.

That was the picture of John Guzy that a murder victim's family and a judge painted Monday, before the 57-year-old convicted killer was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison.

Guzy had earlier been found guilty in the road-rage shooting of Derek D. Prindle in Chenango County. The near-maximum penalty handed down by Judge Frank Revoir imprisons him for killing the 26-year-old Afton resident and attempting to kill the victim's father, Derek S. Prindle, after a traffic dispute outside a Bainbridge fitness center.

With almost two dozen of Prindle's family and supporters gathered in court for Guzy's sentencing, Revoir admitted he was at a loss for words in summarizing the magnitude of what he called an inexcusable crime.

"This is a tragedy, not only to the (victim's) family, but to the community," Revoir said, before telling Guzy, "You are a threat and a menace to the community, wherever you are."

Stone-faced, his hands resting on his lap, Guzy offered no visible reaction to the judge's condemnation, nor did he speak on his own behalf. But a barrage of harsh and emotionally-charged words from Derek D. Prindle's father, sister and mother moments earlier in court had been echoed by Revoir's statement in pronouncing the sentence.

Derek S. Prindle, whom Guzy also shot during the Oct. 27, 2014, incident on Route 7 in Bainbridge, called the defendant Monday a cowardly, drunken man who attacked him and his son unprovoked.

"My son didn't deserve this," a tearful Derek S. Prindle said in court. "I love my boy, and I miss him."

Joyce Prindle, her voice quivering with emotion, remembered her slain son as a young man who had a bright future. He was working as a carpenter, following his in father's footsteps, and had a love of films and music, she said.

There is "nothing sadder," she added, than going on with her own life when her son lost a chance to keep living his.

"My sweet, gentle son was a man with ... much potential," Joyce Prindle said in court. "He was loved enormously, by many."

Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride said Guzy, in a fit of road rage after tailgaiting the Prindles on Route 7, decided to provoke the victims even further when both their vehicles pulled over outside the fitness center along the highway.

Guzy was a part-time Chenango County jail officer, and before that he served on the New York City police department. At the time of the shootings, McBride argued, Guzy was drunk and carrying an unlicensed handgun in order to "prove how tough he is."

The defense, however, presented a starkly different version of events during Guzy's three-day trial, which was held without a jury at his own request. Defense lawyer Benjamin Bergman said the shootings were in self-defense, after the Prindles decided to pick a fight with Guzy in the parking lot.

As the fight escalated, Bergman argued, Guzy began to fear for his life and pulled out his .25-caliber Beretta handgun to use against both men.

On Monday, McBride urged Revoir to hand Guzy the maximum penalty under the law, 50 years to life. McBride revealed in court that Guzy had been involved in a similar road rage incident four months before the Prindle shootings and only a severe sentence in this murder case would "prevent this defendant from ever injuring anybody again."

In addition to the second-degree murder charge, Guzy was found guilty on felony counts of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. He also was convicted of driving while intoxicated and six counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, all misdemeanors.

The sentence Monday includes 25 years to life in prison or second-degree murder and a consecutive term of 15 years behind bars for attempted murder. Jail and prison sentences were also imposed for the other charges, and those penalties will run concurrently with the murder and attempted murder charges.

GUZY GUILTY in road rage murder trial

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