Former South Carolina police officer Justin Gregory Craven was sentenced Monday to three years of probation for the fatal February 2014 killing of an unarmed Black motorist.
Craven, a former North Augusta police officer, pleaded guilty to misconduct while on duty and was sentenced to 80 hours of public service and probation, according to local media.
“We couldn’t ask for a better outcome as far as the sentence is concerned,” Jack Swerling, Craven’s attorney, told reporters according to Reuters. “[He] got probation, no house arrest, and he’s pretty much free to go live his life.”
The former officer was charged in May on a felony of firing his weapon into the occupied vehicle that resulted in the fatal shooting of the unarmed Black motorist, Ernest Satterwhite.
The 68-year-old motorist was chased by the former official for 13 miles before being stopped on a dirt road behind his home. Craven later stepped out his car and approached the Satterwhite, and fired at him several times through his car window, killing him, authorities have said.
As indecent police brutality continues to rise in the African-American community, there are more cases similar to Satterwhite’s. More specifically, in South Carolina, Atlanta Black Star covered the mistrial of a white former police chief who fatally shot an unarmed Black man in 2011.
Moreover, due to Monday’s plea agreement, Craven’s charges were discarded. He faced one year in prison with a fine of up to $1,000, the Aiken Standard newspaper reported.
After a grand jury refused to indict Craven on a voluntary manslaughter charge, officials pursued the felony firing charge, which carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $1,000.
Craven has openly admitted to firing into Satterwhite’s car, according to the arrest warrant. There had been a struggle at the car window, the prosecutor said.
