Finley Sentenced to 65 Years; Severns' Family and Fellow Officers Outraged

by Leanne Tokars (ltokars@wsbt.com)

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Finley Sentenced to 65 Years; Severns' Family and Fellow Officers Outraged

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Sep 26, 2007 at 3:21 PM EST

Story Updated: Oct 1, 2007 at 9:37 AM EST

(WSBT) The teenager who admitted to shooting and killing a South Bend police officer will spend a long time behind bars. But not as long as some people had hoped.

“This is not fair to this family — to my family — it's just not fair," said Kathy Karczewski, Scott Severns' mother.

"It's a complete let down and even saying ‘let down’ is an understatement," said the Scott Ruszkowski, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Jeff Finley will not spend life in prison. A judge sentenced 19-year-old Finley to 55 years in prison for murder and another 10 years for attempted robbery.

Finley pleaded guilty to killing Corporal Scott Severns in April of last year during an attempted armed robbery.

The sentence took a lot of people by surprise.

"We are out here to serve and protect, but who is out here to serve and protect us?" exclaimed Ruszkowski.

In front of a crowded courtroom, mostly filled with police officers, Judge Chamblee announced Finley would not get life in prison without parole.

The judge said he believed Finley intentionally killed Severns and had no remorse.

But he also pointed to Finley’s age — he was 17 when he shot Severns — and lack of past criminal record.

"That kid made a decision to load that weapon, get in that car with a mask, and go up to two grown people in a parking lot. He should pay for the rest of his life," said Denise Severns, Scott Severns' sister.

Finley declined to make any comment in the courtroom. But his family told WSBT News afterwards that they thought the sentence was fair.

"He's got to pay for what he did, but at least he can get out one day, at least his mom can probably be living when he gets out &mdash that's a good thing about that,” said DeRon Phillips, the fiance of Finley’s mother.

"My word, these are police officers trying to protect the community. They don't even have the nerve to say 'I'm sorry I took your son.' They couldn't even do that," exclaimed Karczewski.

Finley will get credit for 519 days already served. With good behavior he could be out of prison in half his sentence — just over 30 years.

Superior Court judges like Judge Chamblee are appointed. St. Joseph and Lake counties are the only two counties in the state where that's the case.

Ruszkoski says the Fraternal Order of Police in South Bend plans to petition the state to try and get those positions elected as well.

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