Former New York Police Department Sergeant Erik Duran was sentenced on Thursday to three to nine years in prison after being convicted of second-degree manslaughter in connection with a 2023 incident that resulted in the death of Eric Duprey. The ruling was delivered by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Guy Mitchell, following a three-week bench trial in which Duran was found guilty of recklessly causing Duprey’s death by throwing a picnic cooler at him during an undercover narcotics operation.

The incident occurred on August 23, 2023, in the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. Duprey, 30, a delivery driver and father of two with a criminal record, was fleeing on a motorized scooter after selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer when the cooler struck him. The impact caused Duprey to lose control, crash into a parked vehicle, and sustain fatal injuries from hitting his head on the pavement.

Duran, 38, a 13-year veteran of the NYPD and a father of three, faced charges including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and assault. He had opted for a non-jury trial, a decision his legal team defended as an attempt to gain a more favorable outcome by having a judge rather than a jury decide his fate. However, his attorneys expressed shock and dismay at the verdict and sentence, calling the decision harsh and influenced by what they described as an “obvious anti-cop bias.”

Veteran attorney Andrew Quinn, who represents the Sergeants Benevolent Association and serves as part of Duran’s defense team, noted that they had vetted Judge Mitchell extensively before trial. Quinn said they trusted Mitchell's background, including his years as a narcotics prosecutor and his prior role as chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice, believing this experience would provide understanding of the risks involved in narcotics enforcement. Quinn criticized the sentence as “repugnant” and indicated growing distrust within the police community toward the judicial process in cases involving law enforcement officers.

Judge Mitchell’s career includes various prosecutorial roles at multiple levels of government before his initial judicial appointment in 2015 by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and a reappointment in 2022 by Mayor Eric Adams.

Following sentencing, Duran’s legal team announced plans to appeal the conviction and is pursuing a request for his release from custody while the appeal moves forward. Currently, Duran is held in protective custody at Rikers Island. Sentencing guidelines in the case allowed for a wide range of penalties, from probation to a maximum of 15 years in prison.

The case has drawn attention for its contentious circumstances and the debate surrounding accountability and the use of force by law enforcement during undercover drug operations.