TULSA, Okla. — A judge sentenced former Tulsa police officer Shannon Kepler to 25 years in prison on Friday in the fifth trial for the same case.
A jury found Kepler guilty in April of causing death by use of a firearm during a crime of violence in Indian country and assault with a dangerous weapon in Indian country.
He'll serve 25 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Kepler was off duty when he shot his daughter's boyfriend, 19-year-old Jeremey Lake in 2014.
As restitution, U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell ordered Kepler to pay for a headstone for Jeremey Lake’s grave on Friday. The father requested the headstone in court when he read his victim impact statement.
The first three trials in the case ended in a mistrial and the fourth trial found Kepler guilty of first-degree manslaughter. The jury recommended 15 years in prison at the time of sentencing.
Later, the former Tulsa police officer filed an appeal due to the Supreme Court's McGirt ruling that Oklahoma prosecutors lack the authority to pursue criminal cases if the crimes happened on American Indian tribal land.
Kepler was then charged with first-degree murder in a federal court in November of 2020.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the previous 2017 manslaughter conviction in March.
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