An ex-deputy U.S. marshal was sentenced Monday to 15 months in federal prison for lying to Los Angeles police detectives about a fatal off-duty shooting he was involved in more than seven years ago.
Matthew Itkowitz, who now lives in Suffern, New York, was also ordered to undergo anger management and substance abuse counseling during a three-year period of supervised release after he is released from prison.
“As a law officer, he should have understood the importance of providing truthful information,” U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez said, adding that the case “impairs” the public’s perception of the workings of law enforcement.
Itkowitz was convicted in July of making false statements about what took place in a Fairfax-area alley when he shot 26-year-old Ryan Gonzalez, who intervened in a dispute between Itkowitz and his wife outside the tattoo parlor where the victim worked.
The 47-year-old defendant “had been drinking” prior to the “emotionally charged” encounter, the judge said Monday.
Itkowitz told homicide detectives he shot Gonzalez while being attacked, according to recordings of a segment of an hour-long interview with detectives played during the trial.
However, surveillance video evidence of the March 5, 2008, incident revealed Itkowitz’s account to be untrue. The video showed that about a minute elapsed between the end of the altercation and the shooting.
“He told an absolute and complete lie that would make the shooting appear justified in the eyes of the law,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Middleton told the judge.
Defense attorney Chris Dybwad argued that his client’s false statements were the result of trauma, a shot of morphine he was given at a hospital, and faulty memory of the night’s events. Itkowitz was found not guilty on a second obstruction count that involved him telling his supervisor that two Latino men attacked him in the darkened alley near Melrose Avenue.
Ray Smithen, the victim’s father, told the judge that Itkowitz deserved prison.
“Mr. Itkowitz lied about a murder,” Smithen said. “This man killed my son in cold blood and knew what he was doing.”
Itkowitz declined to address the court, telling the judge that he had nothing to add to a letter filed under seal.
Gutierrez gave him until March 11 to surrender to begin serving his sentence. Prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence between eight and 10 years, while the defense recommended a year in home detention. The judge, however, agreed with a pre-sentence report by the probation department, recommending between one and two years behind bars.
Middleton put on the record that he found the 15-month sentence “unreasonable.”
In the statement at the root of the case, Itkowitz falsely told detectives that he pulled his weapon in self-defense after Gonzalez punched him in the face and threatened him with a gun.
Unaware that a surveillance recording existed, Itkowitz falsely claimed that he “popped up” and shot Gonzalez immediately after being knocked to the ground, at his first opportunity to draw his weapon, while the victim had a gun pointed at him.
The surveillance footage was played and analyzed repeatedly for the jury.
In the video, Gonzalez and Itkowitz are seen fighting when Gonzalez pulls out what appears to be a small gun and points the firearm at Itkowitz, who appears to brush the weapon aside. Gonzalez puts the gun away as the two men talk before parting and walking away from each other.
Instead of shooting in self-defense, as Itkowitz told investigators, the deputy marshal didn’t fire until after the two men had begun heading in separate directions, suggesting that Gonzalez — who no longer appeared have a gun in his hand — did not pose the immediate threat the lawman claimed.
“Law enforcement officers are not above the law,” said Eileen M. Decker, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. “The actions of this defendant tarnished the outstanding work of law enforcement throughout the district and the nation and have earned him a significant federal prison sentence.”
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double standards of justice, US Marshall style
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