Wash. Officer Gets 4-Year Sentence In Man's Death

A judge sentenced a Spokane (Wash.) Police officer to more than four years in prison on Thursday for using excessive force on a disabled janitor.

Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr., 65, was sentenced to four years and three months for his role in the 2006 death of Otto Zehm. Officer Thompson struck Zehm repeatedly with his baton and stunned him.

Officer Thompson was the first to respond to a 911 call that Zehm had robbed an ATM. Thompson was convicted last year by a federal jury of violating Zehm's civil rights and lying to investigators in the case.

"This had a significant impact on the community and how it viewed its police department," U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle Van Sickle said, reports the Associated Press .