"America's Cop" Gets 4 Years in Prison

Disgraced ex-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday after a federal judge ripped him for abusing his 9/11 notoriety.

"The fact that Mr. Kerik would use that event (9/11) for personal gain and aggrandizement is a dark place in the soul for me," Federal Judge Stephen Robinson said before imposing the term.

Kerik - the first top cop in city history to plead guilty to a crime - appeared stunned when Robinson handed down a stiffer sentence than anticipated.

The judge blasted Kerik, the head of the NYPD when the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists, for taking advantage of his new-found fame.

Prosecutors charged Kerik hid profits from his post-9/11 autobiography from the IRS. Robinson said his decision to hand down a sentence higher than the federal guidlines of 27 to 33 months was also based on Kerik's willingness to lie as he pursued a White House position.

"With great power comes great responsibility, and great consequences," the judge said.

He had warned Kerik that a stiffer sentence in the case was possible. Kerik, in a dark pinstriped suit with an American flag pin on his lapel, said he blamed no one but himself.

"Your honor, I make no excuse," said Kerik, who must surrender to federal authorities on May 17. "I take full responsibility for the mistakes I've made."

Kerik, addressing the court before sentencing, also asked for mercy.

"Allow me to return to my wife and two little daughters as soon as possible," said an apologetic Kerik, whose NYPD tenure covered 2000-01.

The maximum sentence for Kerik's eight guilty pleas was 61 years. He admitted lying to the White House, lying about a payoff from the mob-linked contractor and filed false tax returns.

Kerik, 54, became a national hero after his appointment as police commissioner by ex-mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 2000. His leadership on 9/11 was widely hailed, and Giuliani boosted his buddy as head of Homeland Security during the Bush

Administration. But his nomination failed when Kerik said he didn't pay Social Security to a nanny - which was only a blip on the former top cop's list of wrongdoings.

Last November, Kerik cut a plea deal to resolve the charges against him.

He was jailed for three weeks prior to his plea after the judge ruled Kerik was trying to taint the jury pool by releasing secret pre-trial information.

While behind bars, Kerik was put under psychiatric observation after displaying unspecified disturbing symptoms.

He was released on $1.5 million bail after his guilty pleas, and spent the last three months wearing an electronic monitor at his Franklin Lakes, N.J., home.