Lying ex-cop to be sentenced today

A former New York police officer convicted of lying about a confrontation with a cyclist demonstrator — as witnessed by millions of YouTube viewers — is due to be sentenced today.

According to an Associated Press report, Patrick Pogan faces up to four years in jail but could get probation instead.

Jurors acquitted Pogan, 24, of assault and harassment in his 2008 encounter with cyclist Christopher Long. But Pogan was convicted of lying after a witness' video contradicted his account in a court document.

Pogan was assigned to keep order and watch out for traffic violations as a Critical Mass protest passed through Times Square on 25 July 2008. Participants and police had had a rocky relationship since more than 260 cyclists were arrested during a Critical Mass ride in 2004.

Pogan said he told Long to stop to get ticketed for such infractions as taking his hands off his handlebars. Long kept going, and he testified he never heard any instruction to stop.

Pogan initially reported that Long steered into him and knocked him down, but a tourist's video showed the officer striding over to Long and shoving him off his bike. The video has garnered more than 2 million YouTube views.

Pogan insisted that he was trying to protect himself and never meant to misrepresent what happened.

Long, who wasn't seriously hurt, was charged with attempted assault and other offenses. The charges were dropped and the city paid Long $65,000 to settle a lawsuit he filed.

Pogan resigned last year from the New York Police Department.