The son of North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer (R) was sentenced Monday to twenty-eight years in jail over a police chase and loss of life of a neighborhood sheriff’s deputy.
Ian Cramer, 43, was charged with manslaughter final December after he crashed his household’s SUV right into a police cruiser, concluding an hourlong chase. He killed the sheriff’s deputy standing behind the car.
Ian Cramer pleaded responsible in September to murder whereas fleeing a peace officer, stopping arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug-and driving-related offenses, The Related Press reported.
Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin, 53, died within the incident on Dec. 6, 2023.
District Decide Bobbi Weiler sentenced Ian Cramer to 38 years in jail with 10 years suspended, three years of probation and credit score since he served greater than a 12 months in jail, the AP reported.
Ian Cramer was additionally really useful to obtain remedy for dependancy and psychological well being. He possible won’t serve the total 28-year sentence, Weiler stated.
Weiler stated the state’s Division of Corrections has its personal coverage about how a lot time Ian Cramer will serve.
“These are not mandatory minimums, which means that you’re probably going to serve a small portion of that 28 years and be out on parole, so that’ll … give you an opportunity to have a second chance that Deputy Martin does not have, nor does his family have,” she stated.
Ian Cramer stated he had no intention of killing Martin and apologized to his household. He stated it was finest for him to hunt remedy in a hospital, the AP stated.
Martin was exterior his patrol automotive, trying to deploy a tire deflation system to finish the pursuit of Ian Cramer when he was killed.
Kevin Cramer, who has served North Dakota within the Senate since 2019, stated final 12 months his son was affected by psychological well being points that trigger him to expertise paranoia and hallucinations.
The senator stated his spouse, Kris, had taken their son to the emergency room after he was insisting to see his brother, Ike, who died in 2018. When Kris Cramer stepped out of the car, Ian Cramer jumped into the driving force’s seat and fled.
The sentencing centered on Ian Cramer’s dependancy and his psychological well being points. He admitted to utilizing methamphetamine and bathtub salts the day of the crash, the county lawyer stated.
