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Robert Bates, the 74-year-old former Tulsa County Reserve Sheriff who shot and killed an unarmed Black man, Eric Harris, 44, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison.

Judge William Musseman followed the jury’s recommendation for Bates to receive the maximum sentence in Harris’ death.

Bates was found guilty last month of second-degree murder for the April 2, 2015 gun sting operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma that left Harris dead. Harris was caught on video taking part in an illegal gun sales operation.

He was taken by surprise and ran from deputies, but eventually restrained and shot by Bates, who yelled, “Taser! Taser!” before discharging his firearm, reports NBC News. Bates later said, “I shot him. I’m sorry,” on camera. The former sheriff claimed he mistook his gun for his taser.

NBC News reports:

Following the shooting, an outside consultant hired to review the sheriff’s office determined that the agency suffered from a “system-wide failure of leadership and supervision” and had been in a “perceptible decline” for more than a decade. The reserve deputy program was later suspended.

An internal memo was released from 2009 by an attorney for Harris’ family that claimed supervisors knew Bates wasn’t skilled in training, but required others to look past it because of his relationship with the sheriff and the agency, according to NBC.

“Four years to me doesn’t seem like anything when you compare it to a lifetime,” said Cathy Fraley in an interview with Tulsa World. Fraley is the mother to Harris’ son Aidan Fraley.

Charlotte Bates also testified on her husband’s behalf. She said he was a “wonderful servant of this community,” and begged the judge in a tearful plea to refrain from sending her husband to jail, writes Tulsa World.

Ultimately Judge Musseman disagreed saying, “(Bates) found himself in that position because of his own decisions.”

SOURCES: NBC NewsTulsa World | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO SOURCE: Inform

SEE ALSO:

Judge Denies Bail For Ex-Oklahoma Reserve Deputy Who Mistook Gun For Taser

San Francisco Police Chief Resigns After Cop Fatally Shoots Unarmed Black Woman

Tulsa Reserve Sheriff Sentenced To Four Years For Fatally Shooting Unarmed Man  was originally published on newsone.com