Like La. Trooper avoided jail during fatal arrest of Ronald Greene

A retired Louisiana State Trooper will not serve prison time in… death of an officer 49-year-old black driver, Ronald Greenewho cried in the body camera footage “I am your brother! I’m afraid!” as six soldiers shocked, punched, dragged and beaten him until he stopped breathing.

On Monday, October 28, Kory York pleaded no contest to eight misdemeanor charges of simple battery in exchange for a six-month suspended sentence and one year of probation, his attorney Mike Small confirms to PEOPLE. He was previously charged with unintentional manslaughter and two counts of abuse of power.

“The result is a complete victory for Mr. York!” Small wrote in an email to PEOPLE.

According to Small, the so-called “nolo pretendere plea” conviction will not be admissible in the ongoing wrongful death lawsuit brought by Greene’s family and will allow him to keep his $83,000 annual pension.

York nonetheless belief comes first among five soldiers charged in the Union Parish case in Los Angeles, with only one soldier still scheduled to face trial, according to the Associated Press. (The Sixth Soldier, Christopher Clay Hollingsworth, died in 2020, after: single vehicle accident just hours after he was told he would be fired).

Small claims that “when subpoenaed,” York “testified truthfully” in the last remaining trial but did not reach an agreement with prosecutors as part of a plea deal.

Soldiers’ affairs followed a consistent “pattern or practice.” investigation to the Louisiana State Police” by the Department of Justice to determine whether the department “uses excessive force and engages in racially discriminatory policing.”

PEOPLE reached out to federal authorities for an update on the investigation, which they announced in June 2022. Lester Duhé, press secretary for the Office of Attorney General Liz Murrill, did not directly respond to any of PEOPLE’s numerous questions about the investigation, including including federal questions Authorities planned to bring charges.

State authorities originally told Greene’s grieving family that he died in a high-speed car crash, and state police issued an accident report without any mention of trooper forces, according to the AP, which said The emergency room doctor quickly questioned their claims.

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Then, two years after Greene’s death, the AP obtained body camera footage that the website reported shows six soldiers scalding him, holding him in a chokehold and swearing at him, while Hollingsworth hit him over the head with a flashlight and bragged, that he “beat the ever-living son of a bitch out of him.”

The video shows York – who previously faced the most serious charges – dragging Greene by his ankle cuffs, handcuffing him and lying face down for several minutes, shouting, “Shut up” and “Get on your… – — belly, like I said!” According to the AP, Greene eventually stopped breathing and York was briefly suspended – for 50 hours – for his role in the arrest.

However, more than five years after Greene’s death, the 49-year-old’s cause of death remains unclear.

In the autopsy report obtained by the AP, the coroner noted multiple contributing factors to the crime: repeated tackling by officers, physical fighting, restraint in a prone position, blunt force trauma and “complications related to cocaine use.”

Ultimately, the forensic pathologist did not determine the primary causative factor, resulting in uncertainty leading according to the AP, according to York’s plea agreement.

PEOPLE reached out to District Attorney John Belton with a number of questions about the case and for comment on whether he believed justice was served. Belton – who declined to answer the same question from the AP – did not respond to the October 29 request, publishing it on October 30.

But Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, was unequivocal in her views as she addressed the judge during Monday’s sentencing, as reported by the AP.

“It shouldn’t have ended today,” Hardin said. “That’s bad. It’s not fair.”