In relation to the death of a sheriff’s deputy during a 2023 police pursuit, Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota’s son was given a 28-year jail sentence on Monday.
In September, 43-year-old Ian Cramer entered a guilty plea to nine charges, including drug possession, reckless endangerment, and homicide while evading a peace officer. The allegations were related to a police pursuit that resulted in a collision last year that killed 53-year-old sheriff deputy Paul Martin.
According to The Associated Press, State District Judge Bobbi Weiler, who imposed the sentence, stated in court on Monday that it was unlikely Cramer would complete the entire 28-year term.
“You’re likely to serve a small portion of that 28 years and be out on parole because these are not mandatory minimums,” Weiler said.
Requests for comment Monday night were not immediately answered by the Mercer County State’s Attorney or Cramer’s public defender.
As he was getting ready to put together a tire deflation device to put a stop to the pursuit, Cramer deviated and collided with an empty Mercer County Sheriff’s Office patrol car, killing Martin, according to a prior statement from the North Dakota Highway Patrol.
A request for comment Monday night was not immediately answered by a representative for Cramer’s father, a Republican who was elected to the Senate for the first time in 2018 after serving for a number of years in the House.
In a statement following the filing of the charges last year, Cramer previously stated that his son battles mental illness, stating that his son has significant mental illnesses that show up as extreme paranoia and hallucinations.
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