Hamail Waddell, who was convicted in October for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, was sentenced to a conditional discharge Monday morning.

Following a lengthy legal process that played out over the past several months, the sentence was handed down by retiring City Court Judge William Pelella. The sentence will end in one year if Waddell undergoes substance abuse and mental health evaluations and remains out of trouble, the Binghamton Homepage wrote.

“We live in this great country where we have a judicial process,” District Attorney Paul Battisti told the Binghamton Homepage. “Always allow the judicial process to do what it was created to do. That’s where we get just results. When we have individuals engaging in conjecture or speculation as to what may have happened, all that does in many cases is create irreparable harm.”

Waddell was arrested in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in 2023, drawing criticism from the community after a video of Brad Kaczynski, a Binghamton police officer, kneeling on his neck and back circulated on the internet. Charges were presented against Waddell throughout a two-day trial, which concluded about a month before his conviction.

Battisti asked the court for a sentence of three years on probation, which Edward Kopko, Waddell’s attorney, said would not have been fair compared to the adjournments in contemplation of dismissal the other two men arrested in the fight received. An adjournment in contemplation of dismissal is a court-ordered postponement of a criminal case that results in dismissed charges following a set time.

Battisti maintained that the other men were charged with disorderly conduct, a violation, the Binghamton Homepage added, whereas Waddell was also convicted of resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.

“This entire prosecution has been hypocrisy,” Kopko wrote to Pipe Dream. “Two white boys that were involved in the same incident were given a slap on the wrist while the District Attorney chose to prosecute Mr. Waddell.”

At the time of his conviction, Kopko said he would be filing post-trial motions to begin an appeal. He confirmed on Friday that he would file a lawsuit against Kaczynski, the arresting officer, in federal court next week for using excessive force.

Kopko condemned Kaczynski for the statement he made in the presentence investigation report, where he said Waddell deserved a “strict and severe sentence” and he considered the defendant a “danger to the community.”

Waddell’s statement, included in the report, maintained his confusion over the events that took place that night, saying he felt he was on the police’s side in attempting to de-escalate the fight his friend was in.

When Waddell appeared in court for his October conviction, Pelella said that after “deliberating extensively,” his decision to hand down a guilty verdict was made without prejudice or sympathy.

In May, the state attorney general’s office released a report that concluded excessive force was used in Waddell’s arrest, the factual findings and conclusions of which the city of Binghamton rejected. At the time, Mayor Jared Kraham said the report “[failed] to accurately portray the full circumstances of the incident.”