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BLACK MAN SENTENCED IN WHITE TEEN'S SHOOTING: But victim's family says his jail time is a joke.
*A black man who grabbed a gun instead of calling police when his son awakened him with a claim that carloads of abusive white teenagers were headed to their home was sentenced to prison Wednesday for killing one of the boys, reports the AP.
The relatively light sentence -- two to four years -- for John White, a 54-year-old construction laborer from Miller Place, incensed the family and supporters of Daniel Cicciaro, the 17-year-old who was killed in August 2006.
White, who could have received up to 15 years, was convicted in December after an emotional three-week trial in which defense attorneys -- referring to the teenagers as a "lynch mob" -- invoked the nation's violent racist past in arguing the shooting was justified.
"Nice message it sends to society that as long as you're black and there's a problem at the end of your driveway you can grab an illegal handgun and shoot someone in the face and get away with it,' an infuriated Daniel Cicciaro Sr. told reporters while dozens of young women -- friends and relatives of the man's son -- sobbed loudly nearby. "Well let's see what happens when Aaron White gets shot and see how the laws are,' Cicciaro said, referring to White's teenage son.
Defense attorney Frederick Brewington said Cicciaro's remark appeared to be a threat and demanded an investigation. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said the matter was referred to police and the Whites were assigned extra protection at their home.
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