Albany Man Sentenced To State Prison For Role in Biker Gang Shootout

Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon announced today that the 32-year-old man who was wielding a loaded handgun during a fatal shootout in October of 2021 is heading to state prison.

Collin Billingsley of Albany was sentenced by the Honorable William Little Friday to 12 years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision for pleading guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.

Billingsley, a predicate felon, was one of several people arrested in connection to an Oct. 9, 2021, shooting in front of The Lounge at 117 North Lake Ave., where two rival motorcycle gangs engaged in a shootout on the street that resulted in the death of 29-year-old Alexander Bolton and six others being shot, including Billingsley.

Albany Police found more than 70 shell casings on the ground fired from several handguns that night. Police found two guns inside the biker club, and DNA evidence linked Billingsley to one of them.

Before sentencing, mother Michele Morgan Bolton, father Jeff Bolton and sister Victoria Bolton all delivered victim impact statements. They said Alexander's death has greatly impacted each of their lives and robbed them of daily happiness.

"Many of our family's shared hopes and dreams as well as the plans Alex had for his future all died with him," Morgan-Bolton said. "Our lives have been destroyed."

Judge Little said it was hard to comprehend that Alexander, who served two tours overseas in the Army's 10^th Mountain Division, made it through a warzone but was shot on a local street.

"It's a shame that Mr. Bolton survives Afghanistan but dies in the city of Albany, that's what's senseless to me," he said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Bryanne Brucato, Bureau Chief of the Street Crimes Unit, and Assistant District Attorney Joseph Brucato, Bureau Chief of the Major Crimes Unit.