City Councilman Jumaane Williams was convicted Monday of blocking an ambulance to protest the deportation of his friend — but was found not guilty of obstructing police efforts to move him out of the street.
The lieutenant governor candidate and dozens of other protesters stood in front of the FDNY vehicle, which was trying to take immigrant-rights activist Ravi Ragbir to the hospital.
Ragbir fainted Jan. 11 during a check-in with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who had just ordered his immediate deportation.
Although Williams faced up to a year in jail, Judge Steven Statsinger sentenced him to time served, which amounted to a few hours he had spent in custody.
“I believed and I still believe, sir, your heart was in the right place,” the judge told Williams shortly after the jurors reached their verdict in Manhattan Criminal Court. “Your moral compass, which is otherwise, as far as I can tell completely accurate, just went a little awry.”
It took the panel of six jurors about two hours to find Williams, 41, guilty of obstructing emergency medical services and to acquit him of obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct.
Jury foreman Eric Declercq said that Williams wasn’t justified in impeding the ambulance.
“We felt Mr. Williams was a good guy,” Declercq said. “But he can’t stand in front of an ambulance. No one has that right.”
The ambulance, which defense lawyers Ron Kuby and Rhiya Trivedi referred to as a deportation vehicle, was called at Ragbir’s request.
The panel said that the not-guilty verdict partly stemmed from concerns over the police’s role in the deportation.
Juror number 5, Adam Swire, said the EMS response appeared to be by the book, while the police response raised “a real question as to whether city resources were being used to enforce a federal immigration action.”
Williams, who is running for lieutenant governor, was the only protester to press for trial. The 17 others took dismissal deals.
On the stand, Williams said he felt morally compelled to stop an illegal deportation. On cross-examination by prosecutor Ryan Hayward, Williams conceded that he didn’t know at the time whether there was a medical emergency.
Ragbir, who is from Trinidad, was convicted of wire fraud in 2000, prompting the deportation order, which he has been fighting for more than a decade.
