Mark Kerrigan, the brother of former Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, was sentenced to the maximum of two and a half years in prison on Thursday after being convicted of assault in the January 2010 death of their 70-year-old father.
In an emotional plea, Nancy asked the judge to spare her brother and send him home. "None of us has had a chance to grieve for my father," she said in court. "Please send him home with us today so we can grieve as a family."
Mark Kerrigan himself appealed for clemency.
"I lost my father, and I miss him very much," he said. "I'd like the opportunity to go home with my family."
Six months of the jail term will be suspended, and Kerrigan will be eligible for parole in six months.
In handing down the sentence, Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty called Mark Kerrigan a "middle-aged man with serious alcohol issues" and "uncontrollable anger issues" who has not successfully addressed any of his mental-health problems.
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