A judge sentenced Imette St. Guillen’s killer to life in prison yesterday, but saved some venom for the bar workers whose “indifference” cleared the way for the horrific torture and slaying of the promising young beauty.
“This defendant is not fit to remain in civilized society,” a visibly disgusted Judge Abraham Gerges said as he gave burly nightclub bouncer Darryl Littlejohn, 44, the harshest punishment possible: life without parole.
It will run consecutively with a 25-years-to-life sentence the thug is already serving for kidnapping another woman.
But Gerges also delivered a furious tongue-lashing to the workers at The Falls bar where Littlejohn was employed, noting they were the last to see an intoxicated Imette in the early hours of Feb. 24, 2006, before she was lured into the bouncer’s van, raped, tortured and then strangled in Brooklyn.
The bar is owned by the family that ran Dorrian’s Red Hand, the tavern where “preppie killer” Robert Chambers met Jennifer Levin before strangling her during rough sex in the 1980s.
“While the defendant committed this horrific crime, what is also so disturbing about this case is the indifference of the people employed at the bar that night,” the judge seethed.
“This court cannot speak to the legal implications of serving someone who is intoxicated, and indeed that issue may be before another judge, but this court can decry the complete indifference and inhumanity of the workers there that night.
“They were all focused on finishing their shift and leaving.
“Not one of those people spared a thought to the wisdom of sending an intoxicated young woman out into the deserted streets of Manhattan at 4 a.m.
“If only one of them had the common decency to call a taxi, we might not be here in this courtroom today.”
Christopher Flaherty, a Falls bartender that night, e-mailed The Post he had no idea Imette was in danger — and bristled at the criticism of the judge.
“My heart goes out to the St. Guillen family, and I hope that today’s sentencing will in some way help them come to terms with their tremendous loss,” he said.
“Yet, I find the comments made at the sentencing by Judge Abraham Gerges about the entire staff at The Falls not only reckless but also an insult to the Brooklyn prosecutors who presented a thorough case that resulted in the conviction of her killer.
“As was brought to light during the trial, the service staff at The Falls did not know about Littlejohn’s criminal past and believed that he was a credible bouncer, a job for which one of the duties is hailing cabs.
“I have wished many times since her death that I could have somehow helped her, but the fact is I had no idea she was in danger.”
In court, Imette’s tearful mother and sister made statements before the sentencing in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
“I will never see my sister marry, never hold her children in my arms. My own children will never meet her,” sobbed Imette’s sister, Alejandra.
Imette had been studying criminal justice at John Jay College in Manhattan. Her death was part of a string of incidents that prompted scrutiny of nightlife safety and new measures to require security cameras at club doors and to make it easier to close businesses that sell fake identification.