Former academic sentenced to 6 years in prison in slaying

Michael Berkowitz, 62, was convicted in April of accessory to murder in the June 30 shooting death of Matthew Moore.

Berkowitz, who formerly held positions at Colorado Technical University and the University of Phoenix, arrived at his sentencing hearing carrying a plastic bag with six paperback titles inside prison reading.

Prosecutors say Moore, 27, was abducted from the Sun Springs motel on South Nevada Avenue by Berkowitz and Rodrigo Rubio and forced at gunpoint to lead them to drug dealers who sold them dirt instead of heroin.

Moore was shot twice in the back while trying to escape their Jeep. Rubio, 25, admitted to being the shooter last month and agreed to serve 40 years as part of a plea deal to second-degree murder, down from first-degree.

During a weeklong trial in April, jurors heard testimony that Berkowitz drove Rubio from the scene after the shooting, helped him get out of town and planned to dispose of the murder weapon.

Prosecutors argued Berkowitz should be found guilty of murder too because he participated in the abduction that led to Moore death but a jury rejected the argument, finding that prosecutors didn establish Moore was kidnapped. His attorneys said Berkowitz was caught by surprised when Rubio opened fire.

Berkowitz was the director of online enrollment for University of Phoenix and worked at Colorado Technical University Colorado Springs branch before back pain led to a heroin addiction and his association with Rubio, his attorneys say.

not a day that goes by that I not praying for forgiveness for my role, Berkowitz said in briefly addressing the court.

Moore served in Iraq for a year in 2004 and was haunted by his experiences, including seeing a female suicide bomber blow herself up. He began using cocaine to cope after returning, said his widow, Meikelle Moore.

Despite his post-traumatic stress disorder, he was a on father and loved the couple nearly 3-year-old son, Jaydin.

my everything now, she said of the boy.

Since losing her husband, she said, the family lost its home and two cars amid financial difficulties, and although Jaydin has been told his father isn coming back, he struggles to understand.

see other little boys playing with their dad and run up to them and call them daddy, she said.

don think it right, Meikelle Moore said of the sentence. everything that he put me and my family through, why should he have such a glorious life?

Fourth Judicial District Judge David L. Shakes said Berkowitz was eligible to be sentenced in the aggravated range, but instead imposed the maximum under normal sentencing guidelines. Berkowitz has two prior drug convictions from Arizona dating to the 1990s, but both were set aside when Arizona courts found he had been rehabilitated.

Berkowitz will receive 314 days credit for time served.

His attorney, Sarah Christensen, said he has received death threats because of his accomplice gang ties, and will likely serve in administrative segregation.

Rubio is due to be sentenced Oct. 14.

Contact Lance Benzel: 636-0366 Twitter @lancebenzel

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