Ex-reserve deputy sentenced to 4 years for shooting death of unarmed man

(Image credit: Twitter.com/TulsaWorld)

last updated 1 June 2016

A white Oklahoma insurance executive and one-time volunteer sheriff's deputy who said he confused his handgun for his stun gun during a sting, resulting in the fatal shooting of a black suspect, was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday, the maximum penalty recommended by jurors.

Robert Bates, 74, was found guilty last month of second-degree manslaughter. He fatally shot Eric Harris while working with Tulsa County sheriff's deputies in an illegal gun sales sting. Harris, who was unarmed, had run from deputies, and Bates shot him after he was already restrained. The incident was caught on video, and during the course of an investigation, an internal memo was uncovered that questioned Bates' qualifications as a volunteer deputy, The Associated Press reports. The memo also mentioned that Bates was a close friend with the sheriff at the time, and had donated thousands of dollars in cash, cars, and equipment to the department.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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