A judge in Adams County District Court has vacated the 5-year prison sentence of Peter Cichuniec, a former Aurora paramedic convicted in the death of Elijah McClain. The judge converted the sentence to four years of probation, citing 'unusual and extenuating circumstances.' Prosecutors had opposed the reduction, arguing it would undermine the jury's verdict.
Paramedic Peter Cichuniec , convicted for his role in Elijah McClain’s death sits, in court before his sentencing on Friday, March 1, 2024 in Brighton, Colo. Cichuniec was sentenced to five years in prison for the death of McClain in a rare prosecution of medical responders that has left officials rethinking how they treat people in police custody .
Cichuniec was supervising the paramedic who injected the drug. He was the only one of the three people convicted on charges stemming from McClain’s death to be sent to prison.mandatory minimum prison sentence “A sentence modification in this case will undermine the jury’s verdict, the legislature’s mandatory sentencing scheme, and the deterrence of the abuse of anesthetic drugs for improper purposes,” the filing read.
Cichuniec was incarcerated at the Sterling Correctional Facility in northeast Colorado and it was not immediately clear how quickly he would be released to probation. His supporters cried and exclaimed “Pete is coming home” after Warner reduced the sentence Friday. They declined to comment to The Denver Post.
McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, did not attend Friday’s hearing and declined to comment when reached afterward. She opposed a sentence reduction, court filings show.. Two other Aurora police officers, Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard, were acquitted by juries of all criminal charges in McClain’s death.
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