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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A former Spokane police officer convicted of using excessive force in the 2006 death of a developmentally disabled janitor is out of prison.
KHQ-TV says (http://goo.gl/GvP2a1) an official at the low-security federal prison in Safford, Arizona, confirmed Karl Thompson was released Thursday.
He was sentenced to 51 months after a jury convicted him in 2011 of using excessive force and trying to conceal evidence in the death of Otto Zehm. The 36-year-old janitor died after a confrontation with Thompson and other officers inside a convenience store.
Thompson was scheduled to get out on July 24, but became eligible for early release.
Jeffry Finer, one of the attorneys who represented the Zehm family, says Thompson's release was not a surprise. He says more work is needed to improve the culture of the police department.
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Information from: KHQ-TV, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3082888/
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