South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg of Yankton will avoid a trial and take a plea deal for misdemeanor traffic charges in a crash last year in which he hit and killed a man who was walking along a rural highway, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Beadle County State’s Attorney Michael Moore, who is one of two prosecutors on the case says that “there won’t be a trial and there will be a plea entered,” but he declined to discuss further details of the arrangement. The plea will be entered Thursday, when Ravnsborg’s trial was scheduled to begin, he said.
Moore said a judge’s order that bars state officials from disclosing details of the investigation prevented him from disclosing further details.
The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ravnsborg, the state’s top law enforcement officer, faced three misdemeanor charges that each carry sentences of up to 30 days in jail and up to a $500 fine.
