Hurricane Katrina Danziger Bridge shootings: New Orleans cops to be sentenced today

(CBS/AP) NEW ORLEANS - Today in New Orleans, the officers involved in the infamous "Danziger Bridge" incident will learn their fate.

More than six years after four New Orleans police officers allegedly opened fire on unarmed civilians attempting to escape the city in the days after Hurricane Katrina, U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt will hand down sentences in a case that police initially attempted to cast as a gunfight with armed criminals.

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius and Anthony Villavaso, who were convicted on federal civil rights and gun charges, all face up to 35 years behind bars. Robert Faulcon, who was linked to the shooting of Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally challenged man, could receive 65 years.

The fifth officer, Arthur "Archie" Kaufman, who was not implicated in the shootings but rather the massive cover-up that according to prosecutors included a planted gun, fabricated witnesses and bogus reports, faces less time.

Two people were killed in the shooting, which took place on Sept. 4, 2005. The five officers being sentenced today were convicted by a federal jury in August 2011. Five of their former colleagues, who had already pleaded guilty to various charges related to the incident on the bridge, testified against them.

But Wednesday's sentencing won't be the final chapter in the case. The convicted officers are expected to appeal, and Gerard Dugue, a retired sergeant, is scheduled to be retried in May on charges stemming from his alleged role in the cover-up.

The Times-Picayune, along with PBS Frontline and ProPublica, investigated the incident as part of their "Law & Disorder" series, which won a George Polk Award for excellence in television reporting in 2010. Their reporting found that on Sept. 4, 2005, Madison was shot five times in the back and once in the shoulder.

Madison's brother, Lance, as well as other victims' relatives are expected to give statements before sentencing.