by BEN DOBBIN, The Associated Press
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- A cocaine dealer whose brother fired the shotgun blasts from their car that killed a New York state detective in 1980 was denied parole Tuesday for a second time.
Larry Comfort, 53, involved his elder brother, Joseph, in his illegal drug activities “and your brother brought along a shotgun which then led to the death of an undercover officer and injury to another,” the parole board said in its decision.
“Your release would deprecate the serious nature of the crimes and undermine the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system.”
Robert VanHall, 35, was killed by a bullet that severed his aorta during an undercover drug operation in Corning in December 1980. Another detective, William Gorenflo, was badly wounded.
In April 2002, the parole board turned down Comfort’s first petition to be freed, citing his long history of drug abuse, drug trafficking and criminality. For the second time, however, the board paid note of his “positive institutional record.”
Comfort was convicted in 1982 of murder and criminal sale of cocaine. In 1985, an appeals court overturned his murder conviction, saying prosecutors lacked evidence that he shared his brother’s intent to commit murder. His sentence was reduced to 21 years to life in prison.
He is imprisoned at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in the Catskills, and the VanHall family have been campaigning to keep him there. His next parole hearing will be in two years.
“No one deserves to stay in jail longer than the two Comfort brothers, and I’m very pleased that the parole board saw the community outrage that their crimes provoked,” said Monroe County District Attorney Howard Relin, whose office in Rochester prosecuted the case.
Relin said he hopes Comfort’s brother will also meet with stiff resistance when first eligible for parole in 2014.
VanHall, a Vietnam veteran, was married and had a 14-year-old daughter. Gorenflo, his critically wounded partner, retired on disability.
The slain detective’s widow, Sandra VanHall-Bovenzi, launched a letter-writing campaign this fall aimed at keeping Comfort behind bars.
Comfort’s supporters include author John Swinton, who spent 25 years on the faculty of Penn State University’s College of Human Development. He delved into the case while researching how the 1970s Rockefeller-era drug laws were applied in Corning and surrounding Steuben County in rural southwestern New York.
“I believe Mr. Comfort has both served an appropriate sentence and shows every possible sign of his remorse, strength of character and self-improvement,” Swinton wrote to the parole board.