As one of his final acts in office on Monday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo actually resigned, submitting the paperwork around 8:50 p.m., just hours before Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul takes over at midnight. But shortly before he submitted his three-hour notice, Cuomo issued five commutations and one pardon — including a commuted sentence for David Gilbert, a former member of the Weather Underground and the father of San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin. Gilbert has served 40 years of a 75-to-life sentence for second-degree murder.
Gilbert, a member of the far-left group identified as domestic terrorists by the FBI, drove the getaway car in the armed robbery of a Brink’s truck in Rockland County in 1981, stealing $1.6 million in cash and killing two police officers and a guard inside the armored vehicle. For his role in the heist, the 76-year-old has served four decades for felony murder and robbery. Boudin, who was elected San Francisco district attorney in 2019, grew up with both parents in jail. His mother was also involved in the heist and was imprisoned until 2003, despite having “identical culpability in the crime,” as the progressive prosecutor has described it.
Gilbert is currently being held at the maximum-security Shawangunk Correctional Facility; while behind bars, he helped establish an AIDS education program that served as a statewide model in the early years of the crisis, as the Albany Times-Union notes. With Cuomo’s clemency granted, Gilbert will now be able to appear before the parole board for potential release. Two years ago, Cuomo granted parole to another Weather Underground member, Judith Clark, who was also involved in the Brink’s robbery, driving a different getaway car.
On Monday night, Cuomo also commuted the sentences of four other inmates who have served at least 28 years in prison, and pardoned a veteran who falsified business records. Cuomo, who is facing sexual-harassment allegations from 11 alleged victims, will officially step down at midnight, at which point his lieutenant, Kathy Hochul, will be sworn in as the first female governor in New York history.
