LOS ANGELES : Undercover Officer’s Killer Gets 28 Years to Life
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A Los Angeles man convicted of killing an undercover police officer in Sylmar in 1987 was sentenced Friday to a maximum term of nearly 28 years to life in prison.
In sentencing Louis Belvin Jr., 22, of Los Angeles, for the second-degree murder of Officer James H. Pagliotti, San Fernando Superior Court Judge Howard J. Schwab said he would recommend to prison authorities that Belvin “never be returned to society.”
Belvin was convicted in December of shooting Pagliotti when the officer tried to arrest Belvin--who testified that he was selling cocaine that day--for carrying a gun. Pagliotti was in the area as part of an undercover team watching a burglary suspect in an unrelated case.
Belvin testified during the trial that he mistook Pagliotti for a disgruntled customer and opened fire in self-defense when the officer began shooting at him. Police officers testified for the prosecution that Pagliotti had identified himself as an officer before Belvin opened fire.
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