Mechanic sentenced to jail time in horrific elevator accident in Brooklyn

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN (WABC) -- A woman is speaking out about the elevator accident that changed her life.

Wednesday, the mechanic responsible for shoddy work on the elevator was sentenced for skipping safety procedures that left that woman mutilated and wheelchair bound.

"If it didn't happen in the hospital I would be dead," said Debra Jordan, the victim.

On Christmas Day 2010, Jordan had just prepared a feast for a sick friend at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. But, she ended up in the hospital herself.

"I just kept praying, I felt the cutting and the burning and the breaking and everything," Jordan said.

An animation created by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office shows how the then active 47-year-old tripped while getting into an elevator in the lobby, and it took off to the eighth floor, crushing her left leg, part of her left hand, and right ankle.

"This leg here that I trip, was under this one here into the crease, and this one was on top of this one," Jordan said.

The mechanic, who prosecutors say bypassed safety procedures, performing maintenance leading to the accident, is Jason Jordan. He has been convicted of 2nd degree felony assault and was sentenced 90 days in jail and five years probation Wednesday morning.

"Nowhere in the country has there been a conviction like this, but it is important to protect the people of Brooklyn," said Ken Thompson, Brooklyn DA.

"I thought Jason should've been sentenced to straight probation. This was an unintended accident. If anything it was civil negligence, it wasn't a crime," said David Jacobs, Jordan's defense attorney.

Easy for him to say, there is no more bone left in Debra Jordan's left leg. It's been reconstructed with steel and she still can't walk and has to use a wheelchair to get around.

"The judge should have given a harsher penalty so the rest will know hey, this is what it is," Jordan said.