ALBANY, N.Y. – A former member of a 1970s black radical group who was convicted of fatally shooting two New York City police officers has been granted parole.
State prison system officials say the parole board this week approved 70-year-old Herman Bell's release. It was Bell's eighth parole hearing since being imprisoned for the 1971 killings of officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones.
Bell and two other members of the Black Liberation Army were convicted of luring the officers to a Harlem housing complex with a bogus 911 call and killing them.
Jones was shot once and died instantly. Piagentini was shot 22 times.
Bell was sentenced in 1979 to 25 years to life. He says he's a changed man.
Officials said Wednesday the earliest Bell can be released from Shawangunk (SHAWN'-guhnk) Prison in Ulster County is April 17.
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