Gunman in home invasion sentenced to 16 years to life
![Benjamin Thompson, of Brooklyn, was arrested on charges of first-degree...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3ANmQzMzhlYjctYjUyNC00%3AYjctYjUyNC00OTMyZWEx%2Fshooting-in-huntington.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Benjamin Thompson, of Brooklyn, was arrested on charges of first-degree burglary and second-degree attempted murder and held on $1-million bail after being arraigned Aug. 29, 2009. Also arrested were Natalie Taylor, 26, of Nyack, and Vance Jackson, 46, of Yonkers. Police said Thompson and another member of the gang persuaded a resident of a home on Virginia Street to let them into the house by posing as insurance agents. Once inside, the burglars shot two residents and pistol-whipped a third, police said. Credit: SCPD
A gunman who was part of a gang that robbed a Huntington family of $4,000 in a 2009 home invasion was sentenced Friday to 16 years to life in prison.
Benjamin Thompson, 32, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty Aug. 31 to one count of first-degree attempted robbery for his role in the Aug. 28, 2009, burglary.
Two others charged in the burglary pleaded guilty in February and are awaiting sentencing.
A fourth person, Vance Jackson, of Yonkers, is on trial in Suffolk County Court in Riverside. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of burglary, robbery and assault.
Prosecutors said Thompson and another member of the gang persuaded a resident of a home on Virginia Street to let them into the house by posing as insurance agents. The burglars told the resident they had information on President Barack Obama's health care plan, prosecutors said.
Once inside, the burglars shot two residents and pistol-whipped a third, prosecutors said.
The victims survived. Three children inside the house at the time were not injured.
At opening arguments Tuesday in Jackson's trial, Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kurtzrock said the burglary stemmed from a fight involving two employees of the Town of Huntington Highway Department.
One of the workers involved in the fight enlisted the help of acquaintances to seek revenge against the other man in the fight, who lived at the Virginia Street home, Kurtzrock said. Thompson, Jackson and two others were recruited by the acquaintances to rob the home, Kurtzrock said.
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