Assailant of Station Agent Gets Seven Years in Prison in First Sentence of its Kind

AUGUST 6, 2026—Justice was finally served today at New York Supreme Criminal Court for one Station Agent when her attacker was sentenced to seven years in state prison for Assault 2. This was the first time the maximum sentence was applied in such an assault case—the state law passed in 2002 established the seven year sentence for attacks on a long list of municipal, state and frontline workers, including members of New York City Transit.

On September 16, 2024, Robert Ray approached our sister Local 100 member while she was on the job at the 53rd St./Lexington Ave. subway station and punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground and resulting in bruising and swelling.

According to a 2024 New York Post story on Ray’s arraignment, he said he didn’t mean to hurt to hurt the Station Agent.

“I got mad because voices in my head [were] talking to me,” he claimed. “I did not try to hurt her, don’t have anything against her. I was just mad,” the paper reported.

At today’s sentencing, our Station Agent was surrounded by officers and members who came to support her in the final step of the legal process, but as President John Chiarello noted in the press conference that followed, Ray’s sentencing did not mean the Station Agent could put the incident behind her.

“The damage that he did goes beyond physical, it’s emotional. And it’s never going to go away for her,” said Chiarello.

“The people that are doing this, these people are not well in most cases. They need mental help. The person that did this said he was hearing voices in his head. He should not have been on the street.”

The sentence is an improvement over what's been imposed on most who have attacked our members in the past, and a remarkable first. 

"I know that this sentence means a lot,” said Stations VP Robert Kelley. “Seven years seems like a lot. But the one thing I’d like to see changed—I feel like it should be the minimum, not the maximum.”

“This woman here did exemplary work, day in and day out—laser focused on her job,” said Kelley. “Now today she doesn’t even want to go to work.”

Chiarello called on Janno Lieber to assign MTA Police to undercover roles in transit to supplement the members of the NYPD already in the system.

Our sister Station Agent said she was thankful for the support of her fellow union members and the sentence imposed.

“It was a very scary, scary situation, so I’m glad that justice is served and he got the time that he did. I wish it would have been more, but I’m happy,” said the Station Agent.

In addition to the prison sentence, Ray will undergo five years of post-release supervision.