PIERRE, (KCCR) — A former Pierre police officer has been sentenced to suspended jail time and credit for 12 days served in the Hughes County Jail after pleading guilty to a first offense Driving Under the Influence charge. Jeremiah Erickson also admitted to Hughes County Magistrate Judge Tara Adamski to violating the 24-7 program twice, including once while wearing his Pierre Police Department uniform. Attorney Rob Konrad told Adamski the D-U-I was the low point in Erickson’s life that included a divorce, protection order and lost of his job among other major events. He was severely injured in Minnesota as a police officer and one of his first cases in Pierre involved the traumatic death of an infant. Konrad says Erickson has been doing well in completing various courses and treatment programs and that his dysfunctions are not a result of alcohol. Adamski denied a request for a suspended imposition of sentence saying that a law enforcement officer should be held to a higher standard in a community and that combined with the 24-7 violations would not serve the public. Erickson was also ordered to perform 40 hours of community service, which has been completed.
