The Associated Press
Poughkeepsie Journal

NEW YORK - A former NYPD lieutenant was freed from jail Tuesday after Gov. George Pataki commuted her two-year prison sentence. Patrica Feerick and three officers were convicted of illegally raiding two drug dealers' apartments and terrorizing the occupants in 1990 as they searched for a $1,500 stolen police radio. They were convicted in 1994, and after a series of failed appeals, Feerick began serving her sentence at Rikers Island on Sept. 21; a request for clemency was filed on Oct. 1.

Feerich, greeted in the prison parking lot by several supporters, including Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari, and was given a bouquet of roses by her husband, Joseph Kossmann.

"For the fist time in 10 years a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders," she said, dry-eyed. "I feel total joy a and total gratitude."

This marks the 14th time Pataki has commuted the sentence of prisoners since to took office in 1995.