MORRISTOWN, N.J. (AP) - A former teacher convicted of gunning down her boyfriend has been sentenced to 30 years in state prison.
The sentence for Virginia Vertetis was handed down Tuesday after a judge rejected her lawyers’ request to overturn the verdict and order a new trial.
Morris County prosecutors had sought a 50-year term for the 55-year-old Mount Olive resident. The judge said Vertetis has not accepted responsibility for the 2014 death of retired New York City police officer Patrick Gilhuley, but cited her age as part of his decision to impose a lesser sentence.
Vertetis had claimed she shot Gilhuley in self-defense. But prosecutors argued that she shot him without provocation because she was angry he had broken up with her.
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