South Dakota AG gets fines, no jail time in pedestrian death [View all]

FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg pleaded no contest Thursday to a pair of misdemeanor traffic charges over a crash last year that killed a pedestrian, avoiding jail time despite bitter complaints from the victim’s family that he was being too lightly punished for actions they called “inexcusable.”

Circuit Judge John Brown had little leeway to order jail time. Instead, he fined the state’s top law enforcement official $500 for each count plus court costs of $3,742. Brown also ordered the Republican to “do a significant public service event” in each of the next five years near the date of Joseph Boever’s death — granting a request from the Boever family. But he put that on hold pending a final ruling after Ravnsborg’s attorney objected that it was not allowed by statute.

Ravnsborg said in a statement after the hearing that he plans to remain in office. The plea capped the criminal portion of a case that led Gov. Kristi Noem — a fellow Republican — and law enforcement groups around the state to call for his resignation. But he still faces a likely lawsuit from Boever’s widow and a potential impeachment attempt.

Ravnsborg’s statement accused “partisan opportunists” of exploiting the situation and said they had “manufactured rumors, conspiracy theories and made statements in direct contradiction to the evidence all sides agreed upon.”

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https://apnews.com/article/south-dakota-0ec1a028f08df4b63718cf12c9d232da

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