A suburban Seattle police officer was sentenced Thursday to over 16 years in prison for the 2019 shooting death of a homeless man he was trying to arrest for disorderly conduct, marking the first conviction under a Washington state law that made it easier to prosecute officers for on-duty killings.

Former Auburn officer Jeffrey Nelson awaits sentencing after being convicted for the 2019 fatal shooting of Jesse Sarey.

The prosecution of former Auburn police Officer Jeffrey Nelson took years and cost millions of dollars. A jury convicted him of killing 26-year-old Jesse Sarey.

A judge Thursday sentenced a police officer in Auburn, south of Seattle, to 16 years and 10 months in prison for the murder of 26-year-old Jesse Sarey, reports KING5. Jeffrey Nelson is the first officer in Washington state to be convicted under a new legal standard of using deadly force,

Auburn police Officer Jeffrey Nelson was sentenced for his June conviction of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Jesse Sarey while trying to arrest him for disorderly conduct.

Nelson was the first officer to be charged following new standards for officers was adopted in Initiative 940.