Judge Denies Compassionate Release Motion Of Woman Convicted In FBI Agent's Shooting Death
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - A judge denied the compassionate release motion of a woman convicted in the shooting death of an FBI agent during a pre-dawn drug raid at her Indiana Township home a dozen years ago.
Christina Korbe pleaded guilty in 2011 to voluntary manslaughter and a firearms charge in the death of Special Agent Samuel Hicks, who was the first agent through the front door of the Indiana Township home in November 2008. Prosecutors dropped charges of murder of a federal officer, drug-trafficking conspiracy and weapons counts.
Hicks and other law enforcement officers were trying to arrest Korbe's husband on drug charges. A shot fired from the second floor down the dark stairwell struck the agent and entered his chest despite his bulletproof vest. Korbe said she thought someone was breaking into their home, and she fired in self-protection.
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She was sentenced to 15 years and 10 months in prison.
According to court paperwork, Korbe argued for early release because she had been infected with and recovered from coronavirus in the spring.
The judge points to the absence of medical evidence or a diagnosis to support that claim, and goes on to say that even if she had gotten COVID-19, she "fails to show extraordinary and compelling reasons justifying her early release."
Court paperwork also says the court found Korbe's sentence appropriate given her crime of shooting and killing an FBI agent.
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