(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Brian France, 62, of Coram, was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of Assault in the Second Degree, for using a padlock tied to a strap to assault another passenger on a Suffolk County bus.
“This violent and unprovoked assault on another passenger simply riding the bus demonstrates why the ill-advised ‘Elder Parole’ bill, which is co-sponsored by a majority of the New York State legislature, will result in violence perpetrated on innocent victims,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This murderer and rapist served over thirty-two years but would have been released earlier under ‘Elder Parole.’ He was out just over two months when he committed this violent assault. The comfort of criminals must not be prioritized over the safety of New Yorkers.”
The evidence at trial established that on May 20, 2025, France boarded a Suffolk County bus in Patchogue that was headed for Coram. At that time, France noticed the victim, who he knew from DSS housing, seated toward the rear of the bus. France immediately approached the victim, walking past numerous empty seats, and sat behind him.
Video surveillance from inside the bus revealed that the victim was seated in a relaxed posture facing forward with his back to the defendant. France took a padlock tied to a strap out of his pocket, struck the victim multiple times in the head, and punched him repeatedly before exiting the bus and fleeing. As a result of the attack, the top of the victim’s ear was split in half, and he was treated at an area hospital.
Law enforcement responded to the scene and recovered the padlock used in the assault, as well as the video surveillance from the bus.
On October 27, 2025, France was convicted of one count of Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony, and one count of Assault in the Third Degree, a Class A misdemeanor, after a jury trial heard before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei. France was represented by Chase Brown, Esq.
In 1981, France was convicted of Rape in the First Degree and Burglary in the Third Degree and was sentenced to 2-6 years in prison. In 1985, he was convicted of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and was sentenced to 1½ – 3 years in prison. In 1988, France was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree and was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison. France was incarcerated for the murder conviction from October 28, 1988 to August 13, 2020. In 2005, while serving his sentence for the murder conviction, Frace was convicted of Attempted Assault in the Second Degree and additionally sentenced to 1½ – 3 years in prison. France was initially released on parole on for the murder conviction on August 13, 2020, until his parole was violated on February 3, 2023, and was then reincarcerated. France was again released on parole on March 6, 2025, and committed the assault in this case just two months later, on May 20, 2025.
On December 11, 2025, based on this crime and his prior convictions, Justice Mazzei sentenced France to 22 years to life in prison.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kieran R. Rogers and Amanda B. Scheier of the Major Crime Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective John McAleavey of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Fifth Squad, with assistance from Brooke Baade of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Crime Strategies Unit and John Warner from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Violent Felony Investigations Section.
