Ramsey Orta, the man who recorded the chokehold death of Eric Garner by New York City police officers in July 2014, is headed to prison after taking a plea deal for previous criminal charges. The 24-year-old pleaded guilty on Thursday to a 2014 Staten Island weapons and drug case and will be serving four years as part of the plea deal.
Orta rose to prominence after filming Garner’s final moments, turning a local story into a national sensation and unknowingly creating a formative moment of the Black Lives Matter movement. Outside of recording the video, Orta had very little to do with the protests and social justice movements that transpired after Garner’s death. He has made headlines for completely different reasons, though.
Since shooting the famed footage, Orta has been arrested several occasions. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, stemming from a January 2015 incident and also pleaded guilty for an August 2014 third-degree criminal possession of a weapon charge. Most recently he had a domestic violence case dismissed by Manhattan prosecutors. New York Daily News reported it wasn’t clear as to why the charges were dropped, but revealed Orta is now on good terms and is living with his wife in Las Vegas before heading to jail in October.
Being thrust into the spotlight was a situation that Orta was not prepared for, telling TIME in 2015 that he wished he hadn’t filmed the incident and just went about his day.
Orta told The New York Daily News he feels he has become a target for law enforcement officials for being a part of Garner’s death. He even went as far as to claim someone is poisoning his food at Rikers Island with rat pesticides, only adding more fuel to his accusation of being a target.
(Via New York Daily News & SILive & TIME)