#forcillo

Toronto Const. James Forcillo is in rare company — a police officer headed for jail time. In July 2013, Forcillo shot and killed Sammy Yatim, 18, on an empty Toronto streetcar.

Ontario Superior Court justice Edward Then sentenced Forcillo on Thursday to six years in prison for attempted murder. [Is Forcillo’s punishment fair? Click here to take Yahoo Canada News’ poll.]

In January, Forcillo was acquitted of second-degree murder, but found guilty of attempted murder for continuing to fire his gun another six times as the teen lay dying on the streetcar.

The Toronto cop is the only officer in Canada to have been convicted of attempted murder with a firearm while on duty.

Lawyers for the 33-year-old police officer were arguing for two years of house arrest as Crown prosecutors were hoping for eight to 10 years in prison.

While there have been at least a dozen or more cases where officers across the country faced criminal charges, a lot of them were acquitted or dismissed either by a judge or jury and never spent a night in jail.

Here is a rundown of some cases where police officers spent time in lockup and a couple of upcoming cases in which jail time is possible:

1980 — Constables David Cluett and Harry O’Donnell were charged with second-degree murder after Earle Hollett died from injuries suffered in a confrontation with police on a bridge between Halifax and Dartmouth. While Cluett was acquitted, O’Donnell was convicted of manslaughter and received a three-year sentence.

1993-96 — Montreal police officers Pierre Bergeron, André Lapointe and Michel Vadeboncoeur and Louis Samson, were found guilty of assault causing bodily harm on Richard Barnabé. The taxi driver — distraught over losing visiting rights to see his son during the Christmas holidays — had broken a church window and led police on a chase. He ended up in a coma and died after being taken to jail. Barnabé had broken ribs, a skull fracture and suffered severe blows to his body. The four officers served a combination of weekend jail terms and community service.

1999 — It took three trials (two hung juries) but RCMP Const. Michael Ferguson was convicted of manslaughter after Darren Varley was shot in a Pincher Creek, Alta., jail cell. Varley was under arrest for drunkenness. The Supreme Court upheld a mandatory minimum sentence of four years. But Ferguson only spent two months in jail — he was granted parole because of time served under house arrest.

2013 — Toronto Const. Mandip Sandhu was sentenced to 15 months behind bars for sexually assaulting a masseuse while inspecting the parlour for appropriate licensing. The sentence was upheld by a Superior Court and Sandhu went to jail in 2015.

2015 — Niagara Regional Police Const. Scott Heron was sentenced to four months in jail because of his participation in a massive cheese smuggling operation.

2007-16 — Two of four RCMP officers were convicted of perjury in an inquiry examining the death of immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after being tasered extensively at Vancouver’s international airport. By 2012, Kwesi Millington and Benjamin (Monty) Robinson faced jail time after Crown prosecutors accused them of colluding over how they would testify about the confrontation. Millington’s appeal of his 30-month jail term was just rejected on July 16 by B.C.’s Court of Appeal. Robinson, who quit the force before his sentencing on July 2012, is also appealing his jail term — just under two years. His case is still before the court.