VERSAILLES, MO. – A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper will spend 10 days in jail for his role in the drowning death of a handcuffed Iowa man.
In addition to the “shock time” in the Morgan County jail, Judge Roger Prokes sentenced Trooper Anthony Piercy to two years of supervised probation and ordered him to complete 50 hours of community service. Piercy will serve time in jail in five, two-day increments with his first stint scheduled to begin Friday.
For Craig Ellingson, whose son Brandon Ellingson drowned in May 2014 in Piercy’s custody on the Lake of the Ozarks, it’s not nearly enough.
“Ten days is like a vacation,” Craig Ellingson said. “It’s a joke. … He knows he’s guilty and he’s damn lucky to get what he got.”
Special Prosecutor William Camm Seay requested Piercy receive 30 days in jail and have his law enforcement certification revoked for life. Prokes, however, said the decision on Piercy’s certification was for the state, not him.
Seay left the courthouse disappointed and said he was determined to follow up on the certification and plead with the state to revoke it.
“I wished we would have gotten what we asked for,” Seay told The Star after the hearing. “It’s my hope he (Piercy) never ever serves as a law enforcement officer again. I’ve fulfilled my obligation but I feel like I have an obligation to the Ellingson family to see this out.”
Reached Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman with the patrol said Piercy is still a member of the patrol and is on extended, unpaid leave. What happens now with Piercy’s employment “is a personnel issue,” said Lt. Paul Reinsch.
In late June, Piercy avoided an involuntary manslaughter trial by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor boating violation. On a charge of negligent operation of a vessel, Piercy faced up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine. He received a suspended execution of sentence and could face more jail time if he violates probation.
The decision to go with a misdemeanor plea came after Seay sent two investigators to measure the pulse of the community, where potential jurors would be pooled.
“The community in general thinks Anthony Piercy walked on water, that it was a mistake,” Seay said. “It’s not a mistake. It’s criminal negligence.”
Tuesday’s hearing ends the Ellingson family’s nearly 3 1/2 -year fight for justice. Craig Ellingson traveled from his Clive, Iowa, home to attend roughly 35 depositions, several legislative hearings dealing with lake safety and watched as a coroner’s inquest in September 2014 ruled that his son’s death was an accident.
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