A Hempstead man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison at Nassau County Court in Mineola for shooting a cab driver in the face after he had gotten into an argument at a traffic light with a different cab driver last year.

Josiah Galloway

A Nassau County jury convicted Josiah Galloway, 23, in March of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of assault, criminal use of a firearm and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

Galloway shot the cabbie about 10 minutes after he and another cab driver had gotten into an argument at the intersection of West Columbia Street and Main Street in Hempstead on May 15, 2008, Nassau prosecutors said. The argument started after several taxi cabs were parked at the intersection and one cab that was double-parked.

Galloway pulled up behind the double-parked cab and started honking his horn. One cab driver moved the double-parked cab to the opposite side of the street. Galloway yelled at the cab drivers before he left the area but returned shortly later, pulled up alongside the a different taxi cab, which was parked in front of the Long Island Railroad station, and shot the victim in the jaw.

The victim suffered multiple fractures, the loss of several teeth, and part of his jaw bone, as well as massive and permanent facial scarring.

“This was a shockingly cold-blooded and violent attack against an innocent man,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement.