Brinks mastermind Mutulu Shakur denied federal parole after 30 years in prison

A federal parole panel has again refused to release the mastermind behind the 1981 Brinks robbery during which two Nyack police officers and an armored car guard were murdered, the U.S. Parole Commission confirmed Tuesday.

The denial means Mutulu Shakur, 67, the stepfather of slain rapper Tupac Shakur, will remain in federal prison for at least another two years, when he can again seek early release. A parole panel denied his request in 2016.

The families of the men killed Oct. 20, 1981, have been notified of the decision. Killed by gunfire that autumn day were Nyack Sgt. Edward O'Grady and Waverly "Chipper" Brown and Brinks guard Peter Paige.

"We've gotten word that he's been denied," said Michael Paige, a New Jersey attorney and one of Peter Paige's two sons. "He's where he belongs, in prison, hopefully for the rest of his life. He's responsible for killing my father and two other brave men.

"When my father and Officers O'Grady and Brown walk out of their graves, he can get a second chance," Paige said of Shakur. "This is the result we wanted, a result that is just."

Diane O'Grady, the sergeant's wife, said through her nephew John Hanchar of Clarkstown, that "they have been notified and are grateful for all the kind thoughts and words of the community."

Shakur, who led the Black Liberation Army and the Republic of New Afrika movement, has spent more than 30 years in prison. A judge sentenced him to 60 years for operating a criminal enterprise, including a string of armed robberies and killings, among other charges.

Shakur's conviction includes planning the $1.6 million Brinks robbery in Rockland on Oct. 20, 1981.

The robbers killed Peter Paige at the Nanuet Mall in front of a bank. His partner Joseph Trombino was seriously wounded.

O’Grady and Brown were killed at a Nyack roadblock at the Mountainview Avenue entrance to the New York state Thruway by the same gang of self-professed revolutionaries affiliated with the Black Nationalists and former radicals with the Weather Underground and other 1960s violence-prone groups.

Shakur is being held in the high-security penitentiary in Victorville, California, where his parole hearing was held in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Federal officials declined comment behind the parole denial. While the federal government now prohibits parole, the change came after Shakur was sentenced so he remains eligible to seek early release. He became eligible for serving 30 years of his 60-year-sentence.

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Shakur's sister is Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur and the convicted killer of a New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster during a 1973 shootout.

Chesimard has denied killing the trooper. She’s listed on the FBI's 50 Most Wanted list and had been discovered living in exile in Cuba in 1984 after an escape from prison in 1979.

Mutulu Shakur, born Jeral Wayne Williams, was a Harlem-based acupuncturist working with drug addicts when he organized robberies to supposedly fund a black nationalist revolution.

WEBSITE: Words from Mutulu Shakur and photos

On a website that bears his name and provides photographs along with his political views, Shakur refers to himself as a political prisoner and has taken "full responsibility for crimes involved in my conviction."

He claims he was targeted for his revolutionary activism as founder of the Republic of New Afrika movement and singled out through the FBI's COINTELPRO program.

"I was part of a conspiracy that resulted in those crimes and I deeply regret the loss of life involved ... I have for several decades totally rejected the use of violence," he says on the website.

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Shakur's quest for freedom comes as a Brinks co-defendant, Judith Clark, seeks early release from a life sentence for the murders of O’Grady, Brown and Paige.

New York state Judge John Kelley ordered a new parole hearing for Clark.

Clark has served more than 36 years at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County on three murder convictions from the Rockland robbery. She had been sentenced to 75 years to life on three murder convictions.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo commuted her sentence to 36 years to life, allowing her to seek parole.

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The families of O'Grady, Brown and Paige, along with their supporters and friends of the three slain men, have argued against releasing any of the Brinks felons. The death of the three men left nine children without fathers.

Many weren't aware that Shakur was eligible for release from federal prison.

Retired Nyack Police Chief Thomas Coffey, 88, praised the decision denying Shakur's release. Coffey served as chief when the Brinks killings occurred, having worked with O'Grady and Brown.

He believes the Brinks convicts should die in prison.

"They committed the crime and should do the time," Coffey said. "They should serve out their full time."

Coffey said if Cuomo didn't commute Judith Clark's sentence to 36 years to life, "we wouldn't be talking about the other one."

"I hope everyone remembers" what Cuomo did," Coffey said, referring to the Democratic governor's re-election campaign this year.

Most people expected Shakur to die behind bars and did not know he was eligible for parole, Rockland County Undersheriff Robert Van Cura has said.

Van Cura, a former South Nyack-Grand View police chief, oversees a college scholarship fund in the names of the officers. A memorial stands at the Mountainview Avenue site, where hundreds of people mark the anniversary of the incident every year.

"I am disappointed the system doesn’t seem to hold people accountable for their actions," Van Cura has said. "He was someone who was violent, responsible for death and terror for people living in the metropolitan region."

Paige gave a victims' impact statement against releasing Shakur. Paige said unfortunately the families will have to gear up for Clark's next parole hearing this year, as ordered by a judge.

"All the families will do whatever we have to," Paige said. "We are the voices for the three men to make sure these people responsible for murdering these brave men remain where they are. We need to speak out that justice needs to be served."

Twitter: @lohudlegal