US District Court judge Joan Lefkow sentenced disgraced former Chicago police commander Jon Burge to 4 and a half years in prison today -- twice the recommended term under federal sentencing guidelines -- for lying about running a torture ring under his watch while he was a top cop at Chicago's Area 2 and Area 3 police headquarters in the 1980's and 1990's.

The sentence came as cold comfort to survivors of police torture, or to the relatives of more than a dozen men who remain imprisoned on the basis of false confessions extracted under torture by Burge and his henchmen. One of those fellow torturers, John Byrne, who torture survivors have accused of serving as one of Burge's right hand men in the torture conspiracy, appeared in court yesterday and today with Burge, walking into the courtroom at Burge's right side. Neither Byrne or any of Burge's other accomplices have been charged in the case.

Burge was not convicted of torture, but rather of lying under oath about knowledge of abuse that occurred under his watch. Federal prosecutors argued that the statute of limitations made it impossible to charge Burge or his associates with the actual crime of torture. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was also at pains to downplay any likelihood of prosecutions of additional cops, saying only that the federal investigation was "ongoing."

And Burge refused to admit any wrongdoing, saying only that he was "deeply sorry" for any possible "disrepute" that the case may have cast upon the Chicago police department.

Police torture survivor Mark Clements, who was 16 when he was tortured by the Burge crew, blasted the sentence. "This is a slap on the wrist," he said after the sentence was announced, as tears streamed down his face. That sentiment was echoed by Robin Hobley, the sister of police torture victim Madison Hobley, who was wrongfully convicted of setting a fire that killed his wife, young son and five other people. "My brother spent 16 years on death row for something he didn't do," she said. "There are still men who are on death row for something they didn't do. There should be something done about that."

"Don't take people's lives away from them just to be able to build your career," added Hobley. "That's not right." Judge Lefkow had rhetorically asked in court why Burge did what he did, and surmised that it could only have been to advance his career.

"Judge Lefkow spoke about the seriousness and the systematic nature of the torture," said attorney Flynt Taylor of the People's Law Office, which has represented many Burge police torture victims over the last two decades. "This case is about much more than Jon Burge, and we've always said that, and this judge found that today."

US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office prosecuted Burge, described the case as "justice delayed, but not justice denied." But he refused to commit to either further prosecutions of other cops involved in the torture ring, nor did he address pressing for relief for any of the Burge torture victims, including those who remain behind bars.

Burge is scheduled to report to prison on March 16. His attorneys have vowed to appeal both his conviction and his sentence.