Federal appeals court upholds subway shooter Frank James' conviction, life sentence

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction and life sentence of Frank James, the subway shooter who opened fire on a Brooklyn train during morning rush hour in April 2022, injuring 10 people.

Frank James and his attorneys told a Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel that the life sentence plus 10 years imposed by U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II in October 2023 was too harsh and did not consider his history of mental illness. James did not intend to kill when he entered a crowded N train in Sunset Park on April 12, 2022, his defense team said.

The appeals court rejected that argument.

"There is ample evidence indicating that James acted with the intent to kill as many people as possible," the court wrote. "In the years leading up to the attack, James posted multiple videos on the internet in which he either repeatedly discussed how the human population must be reduced, or praised and expressed a desire to copy the actions of notorious murderers like Ted Bundy."

James, 65, a Bronx native who had lived in Philadelphia and the Midwest, pleaded guilty last year to terrorism charges in federal court in Brooklyn.

John Marzulli, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace, declined to comment on the appellate panel’s ruling.

James’ attorney, Darrell Fields of the Federal Defenders, did not respond to requests for comment.

Fields had argued that Kuntz failed to consider James’ long history of mental illness when he ruled the defendant committed perjury by lying about his mental state in order to receive a lesser sentence.

"Notwithstanding James’ lengthy history of mental health problems, James points to nothing in the record to suggest that he was confused, mistaken or suffering from memory loss at the time of his plea allocution," the judges wrote.

Prosecutors said James had planned his attack for years by purchasing smoke bombs, disguises, firearms and ammunition. He scouted the location of the attack, they said, and completed multiple practice runs.

On the morning of the attack, James wore an orange reflective jacket and a yellow hard hat to make himself look like an MTA employee. He set off a smoke bomb in a subway car and opened fire on straphangers, prosecutors said.

When James began firing, panicked passengers flocked to the far end of the subway car, which was between stations, leaving victims trapped. Ten victims were struck by bullets and dozens more suffered from smoke inhalation and other injuries, prosecutors said.

James fled the scene and changed his clothes frequently to evade law enforcement, which engaged in a 36-hour manhunt. At some point after the shooting, James bought a burner phone to watch news coverage of the attack. He also watched a James Bond chase scene from "No Time to Die" 10 times after the attack, prosecutors said. James turned himself in by calling the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline the day after the shooting.