They are two Irish brothers on opposite sides of the American dream. One, a convicted felon, spends his days studying for his high-school diploma in a New York juvenile prison.

His older brother has just been accepted into Harvard University, one of the US's most prestigious colleges where he will study with some of nation's future elite. He dreams of practising law and entering politics.

On Tuesday, when a New York judge sentenced Robert Bright to a minimum of five years in prison for his part in a 1996 armed robbery which left a delicatessen employee dead, his older brother, David, and mother, Mary, were able to close one tragic chapter in their lives.

While Robert's attorney considers applying to have him serve out his sentence in Ireland, his mother and brother try to grasp how the former altar boy early one Saturday became a 15-year-old armed robber.

"I thought coming here was going to be the be-all and end-all," Robert Bright's mother told New York's Irish Voice newspaper after the sentencing. "I just thought it was going to be great for the boys. I was wrong."

A security video which captured Robert robbing the store at gunpoint portrayed a youth gripped by desperation, his family says.

Unable to adjust to New York, Robert's depression spiralled into an erratic crime, an aberration which cost one man his life and Robert his freedom.

"He was in a right state that night. That truly wasn't Robert up there," said his brother, David (18) in a recent telephone interview.

"It's just a shame that everyone is looking at those two minutes on the video and judging him by that. He was, and is, a really good kid."

The December 1996 robbery started at about 12:20 a.m., according to the Nassau County assistant district attorney, Mr Robert Hayden, a prosecutor in the case. Bright, Richard Robinson (19), the man who confessed to the shooting, and three other men pulled up in a blue private taxi outside the Doughty Deli in Inwood, Long Island.

Mr Mosood Sadiq, a Pakistani immigrant, was working there with three other men when Bright and Robinson entered. Armed with a 0.38 calibre handgun, Bright held one man at gunpoint while he stolen $400 from a cash register, said Mr Hayden.

Robinson, carrying a shotgun, forced Mr Sadiq and two others into a stock room at the rear of the store. He ordered them to lie on the floor in a narrow gap between two shelves. Robinson shot Mr Sadiq once in the chest when he turned to face the robber with his hands in the air, and he died minutes later.

Bright was picked up by police on the street at about 10 p.m. the same day. He confessed soon afterwards. Robinson was arrested later and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. He started serving a 25-year to life sentence on Tuesday.

According to David Bright, growing up in Dunboyne, Co Meath, the two brothers pursued different interests. David was a bookworm, busying himself with maths and English literature, especially Shakespeare and Kurt Vonnegut.

Robert was the more outgoing and would spend hours in his uncle's garage tinkering with engines and helping neighbours with small favors, such as mowing their lawns.

"Over in Ireland, he really was a good kid. He never got into any trouble, never even stole a comic book. Everyone loved him, from the cops to the priests," David said. "Over there he was cute and adorable. But cute and adorable don't really mix over here."

The Bright family arrived in the US in late 1994. The country seemed to offer more opportunities than Ireland at that time, said David.

With their mother, the two boys settled into Rockaway, in the Queens section of New York City. Just a few blocks away, the Atlantic laps over a long stretch of beach which runs the length of Rockaway peninsula.

But New York was a far cry from Co Meath. For David, the US is a land of promise. At high school, he discovered a passion for politics. His academic interests smoothed his transition into their new country.

But for Robert, the problems began almost as soon as the family arrived.

"It was a real culture shock for him. Robert came from a rural area in Ireland and then into a city, a different area, and he didn't know how to react.

"He was outgoing, into sports, hurling, rugby, anything he could get his hands on. Over here, he was left with nothing to do and he was hurt by that," said David.

His brother became depressed and started taking medication. He was bullied and beaten up almost weekly, an easy target because of his small stature. Robert was mugged several times on the street and once was held up at knifepoint on the subway. Eventually, he turned to older boys for protection, said David.

"He could never really fit in. There was no one he could really trust."

Just weeks before the fatal crime, Robert had tried to commit suicide twice, once with an overdose, another time by trying to slash his wrists. It was his third suicide attempt, according to his brother.

Last week Robert was being held in a Nassau County juvenile correctional facility, but was scheduled to move to another prison. His mother has been travelling to Long Island to see him and returning to Queens at night to work.

Both mother and older brother feel that it would be best for Robert to return to Ireland.

"If he is allowed to go back, that would be the best for him. That's where he belongs," said David, adding that his mother would probably return to Ireland to be with him.

Repatriation could take 12 to 18 months, said Mr Anthony Colleluori, Robert's attorney.

Robert still has plans to go to college when he gets out, his brother said. That could be in less than five years if the 17 months he has already been incarcerated for are counted in his sentence.

Meanwhile, David prepares to enter Harvard's famous halls where he will study politics or law. After college, there will be graduate school to study law. And then, hopefully, a political career, he said.

"A kid from Ireland applying for Harvard was a real reach. But my family is really happy, and Robert was really happy for me. It's something you can't turn down."