Robert Bates, Imprisoned Volunteer Sheriff's Deputy, ‘Condemned' in Jail

The volunteer Oklahoma sheriff’s deputy who killed an unarmed man last year spoke to NBC News from jail and said he doesn’t expect to survive his four-year sentence. 

"I'm pretty much been condemned," Robert Bates, 74, told NBC News from Tulsa County Jail, where he’d been held since his May 31 sentencing. 

Bates said he regretted shooting Eric Harris during a sting operation in Tulsa in April 2015, and also wished he’d never offered to become a reserve deputy sheriff. 

Bates said he incorrectly believed that Harris had a gun on him, when he was caught in an undercover gun buy. He intended to use a Taser to stun Harris, but pulled the trigger of his gun instead.

The shooting made national headlines and fueled public outrage over police use of force.

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