Man claiming to be pals with prison guards gets 23 years for killing correction officer

At least he will be among friends.

A Queens judge on Thursday sentenced a former MTA maintenance worker to 23 years behind bars for killing a correction officer during a road-rage incident — despite the man’s one-time defense that he wouldn’t have done it because he pals around with cops and jail guards.

A lawyer for Gifford Hunter, 31, had originally presented the bizarre defense for his client killing 27-year-old Jonathan Narain following his 2018 arrest. But Hunter later changed his tune and copped to fatally shooting the off-duty Rikers Island correction officer at a stoplight in Richmond Hill.

In addition to the hefty prison term, Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise gave Hunter five years of supervised release.

Josh Martin, a defense attorney for Hunter, said his client apologized to members of Narain’s family who were present for the sentencing.

“In a case like this nobody wins,” Martin told The Post. “It’s a tragedy for both sides.”

Authorities said that Hunter was riding a motorcycle on Sept. 14, 2018, and became enraged at Narain after he cut him off in traffic.

Hunter pulled up to Narain while his Honda Accord was stopped at a traffic light near the intersection of 103rd Avenue and 120th Street, and fired a single shot at the vehicle, which struck the victim in the head, authorities said.