NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The NYPD officer who brutally beat and sodomized a Haitian immigrant in 1997 is seeking an early release from federal prison after contracting COVID-19, according to a report.
Former NYPD officer Justin Volpe, who pleaded guilty to sodomizing Abner Louima with a jagged wooden handle, is set to be released from prison in 2025, but has asked to be released earlier than that in a new application, saying he tested positive for COVID-19 in November, the Daily News reported.
“In 1997, I committed a serious wrong and crime. I take full responsibility and live with the pain it has caused the victim, his family, and others,” Volpe wrote in the application. “For over two decades I have tried to live in a way to make up for it.”
“I tested positive for COVID-19 and had several symptoms," he added. "No medical treatment of any kind was provided or offered."
Police arrested Louima at a club in Brooklyn in August 1997 after a fight broke out, the outlet reported. Volpe, who “mistakenly believed Louima had punched him,” attacked Louima in a police car before beating him up and sodomizing him with a wooden handle inside Brooklyn’s 70th Precinct, according to the outlet.
The attacks left Louima with a ruptured colon and bladder. In an interview with the outlet, Louima said the incident was “something you’ll always have to deal with.”
"But I thank God to be alive,” he said. “I follow the word of God, so I have to forgive — but I don’t forget. A lot of people mix forgiving and forgetting.”
“I forgive, but I do not forget,” he added.