AP — A judge on Thursday sentenced a white Philadelphia police officer to 11½ to 23 months in prison in the 2017 fatal shooting of an unarmed Black motorist, far less than the decades behind bars he potentially faced.
Eric Ruch Jr. shot & killed 25-year-old Dennis Plowden Jr. 6 seconds after arriving on the scene as Plowden sat on a sidewalk upon crashing a car during a high-speed chase. He was fired from the department months later.
Ruch, 34, was charged in 2020 & convicted in September of voluntary manslaughter & a weapons charge. The voluntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
But during the sentencing, Judge Barbara McDermott said Ruch had demonstrated good behavior since he was charged & a longer sentence would not offer him any rehabilitation. The sentence also includes parole eligibility & carries no financial penalties.
“Nothing he is going to do in prison is going to make him a better person,” McDermott said.
The judge’s decision outraged Ruch’s family.
“I wasn’t surprised, but I was disappointed,” Plowden’s widow, Tania Bond, said. “Who wastes 5 years to come to court & hear 11 to 23 months? Did we value Dennis’ life or did we just throw something out there to feel like we shut the family up & feel like we satisfied?”
Ruch told jurors he feared for his life when he fired at Plowden. He said Plowden had his left hand raised, but kept his right hand hidden despite police orders.
Prosecutors said there was no justification to shoot Plowden, noting that several other officers took cover & held their fire.
The bullet from Ruch’s gun went through Plowden’s raised left hand before striking him in the head.
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