"Your cowardly and senseless act of violence have impacted the DAJD community," said Vergel Bautista, a King County Jail corrections officer.
Bautista, his fellow officers looking on, described the brutal attack that he witnessed inflicted on Corrections Officer Gil Letrondo. He said it left a mark on him and his colleagues.
"You paused only when another officer was trying to subdue to keep you from trying to kill Officer Letrondo," Bautista said. "What has officer Letrondo done to you to deserve this brutal attack?"
Sean Graham, 36, with a lengthy criminal record, was being held at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent for first-degree robbery in 2011. It was there that he threatened to kill, then repeatedly beat Letrondo, knocking him unconscious.
A former corrections officer who is now legal adviser to the officers' guild asked the judge to send a message.
"Particularly to inmates in the region," said Jared Karstetter. "That simply because you are in jail and you don't want to be there, there will be consequences if you assault an officer."
For his part, Graham apologized. He denied wanting to kill Letrondo and asked for leniency.
"Your honor, if you would be gracious enough to show me some mercy before you sentence me?" asked Graham, speaking softly. "I do not deserve 30 years in the penitentiary."
As he spoke, his mother cried. But the judge showed little mercy, sentencing him to 25 years behind bars.
The officer he nearly killed has never returned to work. The beating effectively ending his career.
KIRO
