Jason Van Dyke, the former Chicago policeman who murdered the African-American Laquan McDonald in 2014, he would be leaving prison on February 3 after having served three years in prison, as confirmed by the Chicago Sun-Times, since in principle the release date was listed as February 8.
In 2018, Van Dyke, of 43 years, was sentenced to 81 months in jail for second degree murder and 17 charges of aggravated assault, one for each bullet he fired at African-American teenager McDonald, of 16 years, when he was fleeing from the police the night of 20 October of 2014.
The former police officer abandoned the appeals of his conviction a year later of his sentence, to apparently serve his time and flee from the controversy in which he was immersed since the video of McDonald’s murder came to light to give rise to the trial that lasted three years, reported The Chicago Sun Times.
Van Dyke hopes to have a privacy measure as soon as he is released, reported attorney Jennifer Blagg, who handled Van Dyke’s appeal until 2019 chose to drop any attempt to overturn his conviction.
“This case has had a great impact on the Laquan family, in the city of Chicago, on Jason and his family. Jason accepted the verdict and sentence as it was not appealed,” Blagg stated.
“I do not pretend to speak for Jason, but I sincerely hope that he and his family have privacy as they make this transition. , since for Jason he spent most of his time in solitary confinement”, added Blagg.
The former agent was eligible to reduce half of prison time with good behavior credit when convicted of second degree murder.
While awaiting sentencing, Van Dyke was sent to a county jail near the border from Illinois with Iowa, at the Illinois Department of Corrections, and was subsequently transferred to a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, where it was reported that he was beaten by his fellow inmates within hours of being placed together with the general population, informed their lawyers.
After the incident, he was transferred to a low-security jail in Otisville, New York, but was transferred out of the federal Bureau of Prisons system in November 2019, according to records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
During the time that Van Dyke has been in prison, his lawyers have said that they did not always know where he was serving his sentence, since the inmate locator The Illinois Department of Corrections online did not list him as an inmate at any state facility, and Danbury authorities ordered the former police officer taken into protective custody following the attack in Danbury .
With information from The Chicago Sun Times
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