BROOKLYN, NY — Ribsy got his revenge yesterday when the man who tossed the beloved dog 23 stories to his death from a Tribeca balcony was sentenced to a long stretch behind bars.
John Jefferson, 43, got two years for killing the sweet pooch, part of a total 12-year sentence for conducting what a judge called a "reign of terror" against Eugenia Miller, Ribsy's owner and Jefferson's ex-girlfriend. |
He tossed her belongings from the balcony before finally throwing Ribsy. |
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Yates, who was bombarded by letters from pet lovers demanding that Jefferson get the max, didn't accept the excuse.
"I have had pets all my life. I was as sickened as anyone else when I saw the story about the dog," he said, adding that the maximum sentence for dog tossing is two years.
The little dog frantically pedaled his paws and barked once. |
Jefferson pleaded guilty earlier this month to robbery, burglary, stalking, contempt of court and killing Ribsy, a terrier poodle mix. |
Cops said the little dog frantically pedaled his paws during the plunge, and barked once.
"Ribsy was broken in pieces by the fall," said prosecutor John Dormin.
Prosecutors said Jefferson had long harassed Miller and that she once made a tape saying she feared he would kill her.
Miller, who wept through most of the hearing, expressed no bitterness toward Jefferson, saying she hopes he will get drug treatment.
"Ribsy is safe," she added. "I can't look at it any other way than that. He's in a place I can just hope to be one day."
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