A paramedic who was convicted in the 2019 death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain has been released from prison after a judge reduced his sentence on Friday.
Peter Cichuniec, 51, was accused of administering an excessive amount of ketamine to sedate McClain after an encounter with police in August 2019 in Aurora, Colorado. He was found guilty in December 2023 of assault in the second degree for the unlawful administration of drugs and criminally negligent homicide.
Judge Mark Warner sentenced Cichuniec in March to five years in prison for the assault conviction, the minimum possible, and one year on the criminally negligent homicide conviction, to run concurrently. He had faced upward of 16 years behind bars.
On Friday, Warner reduced the sentence, converting it to four years of probation, according to The Associated Press .
A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Corrections confirmed to ABC News Friday evening that Cichuniec is no longer in their custody.