Michael S. Barone, a former Albany police lieutenant accused of shooting a man earlier this week in a Rensselaer home, is due in court on Friday.

TROY – A pot-dealing ex-convict who was shot by a retired Albany police lieutenant he considered a friend said Wednesday a plea deal that sent the former officer to jail for six months shows how the system takes care of its own.

Michael S. Barone, 55, a lawyer as well as a former paratrooper and an Albany police officer for more than 20 years, took a plea deal Tuesday in Rensselaer County Court that erased two felony charges in return for a guilty plea to misdemeanor third-degree assault for shooting Michael Brothers.

Barone was sentenced to six months in the Rensselaer County Jail, ordered to surrender any weapons he might have and received an order of protection to keep him away from Brothers until May 31, 2025.

“Because he was a lieutenant for 30 years, they gave him a slap on the wrist. They laughed in my face,” Brothers, 36, said in a telephone interview from his Colonie home. He said the plea deal was an insult to him.

“He shot and robbed me,” Brothers said.

The bizarre case began when Brothers was robbed in October 2021 in his city of Rensselaer apartment at gunpoint of $1,200 and 4 ounces of marijuana that he planned to sell, according to court documents. Brothers then went to Barone’s Central Avenue residence in Colonie to get advice from the former police officer now lawyer about what to do because he'd had a prior conviction. He said he’s been out of trouble since he was paroled in 2013.

The two had met at a strip club four to five months earlier. Brothers said they became friendly, going to a Jets game, returning to the strip club and going out to dinner. Brothers said Barone spoke about his girlfriend breaking up with him.

The duo returned to Brothers’ apartment on that October morning, where at 3:30 a.m. he said he told Barone to spend the night on the couch. Brothers said he woke up later that morning and went from his bedroom to the kitchen where he found Barone wearing one of his hoodies, his gold jewelry and holding a pistol. Brothers said when he asked Barone what was he doing with his jewelry, Barone pointed the pistol at Brothers' head. Brothers said he told Barone to lower the pistol and, as he did, it went off, shooting Brothers in the pelvis. Brothers said the "police pistol" didn’t have a safety and he still walks with a limp from his injury.

Barone then put Brothers into Brothers’ car and drove him to Albany Medical Center Hospital, Brothers said. Albany police were called to the hospital and Barone was arrested there.

Barone was indicted for first-degree robbery and second-degree assault by a Rensselaer County grand jury earlier this year.  

Brothers was upset that he learned by telephone of the plea deal as it was unfolding in county court. Brothers said, “If you got shot and robbed do you think six months is good?”

Brothers said that he served four years at Cayuga State Correctional Facility for attempted second-degree robbery while Barone faced up to 25 years if convicted of the robbery charge, which was dropped. Brothers said he was the get-away driver for an attempted robbery outside an Albany social club. He pleaded guilty for his role in the crime that saw a man pistol-whipped and robbed of $10,000.

Brothers also was angry that he didn’t get an opportunity to make a victim’s impact statement.

“They wouldn’t even let me do it,” Brothers said about making the statement.

Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka was named special prosecutor in the Barone case after Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly recused her office for conflicts of interest due to her staff having involvement with Barone when he served as an Albany police officer, and also because her husband and father both worked on the Albany police force with Barone.

“He was not happy,” Czajka said Wednesday about Brothers’ response when he was informed of the deal by an assistant district attorney.

Regarding Brothers’ statements about what he considered a sweetheart plea deal for Barone, Czajka said, “I understand that is his belief. It’s not the case as anyone who knows me would know.”

Czajka said he made the decision to proceed to sentencing immediately after Barone’s guilty plea to the misdemeanor assault count, which was why there was no victim’s impact statement. It’s unusual for a victim’s impact statement to be given after a misdemeanor guilty plea.

Czajka repeated that the deal was appropriate based on the facts in the case. Michael McDermott, the defense attorney who represented Barone, said there were “high hurdles” for the prosecution to overcome in attempting to prove the shooting was intentional.

Both Czajka and Brothers said the Rensselaer Police Department did an excellent job in investigating the case.

While Barone is in jail, he still faces three misdemeanor charges in Brunswick Town Court for disobeying an order of protection from Albany County Family Court to keep away from his ex-girlfriend.

“She’s terrified. I’m terrified. They gave him six months. He could be out in four months,” Brothers said about Barone’s eventual release from jail.

Kenneth C. Crowe II covers Rensselaer County for the Times Union. He writes about Troy, US Census, northeastern Albany County and whatever else comes up. Screenwriting is a fascination. You can reach him at kcrowe@timesunion.com.