Two More Men Get Long Sentences for Attempt to Kill Judge

Two more men have received long prison sentences for a 2015 assassination attempt on a state judge outside her home.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin sentenced 29-year-old Marcellus Antoine Burgin of Cypress on Tuesday to 25 years in federal prison and 27-year-old Rasul Kareem Scott of Marrero, Louisiana to 17 1/2 years in prison.

They pleaded guilty earlier to fraud and racketeering involving the attempted capital murder of state District Judge Julie Kocurek, of Austin.

Last month, Yeakel sentenced 31-year-old Chimene Hamilton Onyeri to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of multiple counts of fraud, racketeering and other charges. Burgin and Scott testified that Onyeri was the triggerman in Kocurek's shooting.

An earlier article indicates that Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said Onyeri, who was being held in Houston for an unrelated slaying, was a person of interest, but had not yet been charged with Kocurek's attack.

Kocurek underwent more than 20 surgeries and lost a finger after the attack. According to trial testimony, Onyeri wanted her dead to avoid going to prison on a probation violation.