A Tulsa County judge on Monday sentenced the man convicted of being the getaway driver in the shooting of two Tulsa Police officers last summer to 24 years in prison.
A jury convicted 29-year-old Matthew Hall on March 4 of two counts of being accessory to a felony for driving David Ware from the scene of an east Tulsa traffic stop where he shot Ofc. Aurash Zarkeshan and Sgt. Craig Johnson in June 2020.
Zarkeshan was seriously wounded and needed months of rehabilitation. Johnson died.
Judge William Musseman followed juror’s recommendation of 12 years per count and ordered them served consecutively.
Johnson's widow and one of his two sons gave victim impact statements at the hearing.
Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray told News on 6 after the proceedings Hall’s first question when Ware got into his car was about drugs he was trying to buy.
"It wasn't, 'What happened?' It wasn't, 'How are those cops?' It wasn't, 'Oh, my god, what did you do?' It was, 'Did you get the heroin?' So, this is somebody who, from the outset, was focused on No. 1, himself, and then Mr. Ware," Gray said.
Hall’s attorney, Brian Martin, said during the trial his client suffered from addiction. Martin said the 24-year sentence is unfair because Hall is being punished twice for one crime.
"Although it was one continuous, longer act, it was still just one act in assisting Mr. Ware," Martin said.
Ware goes on trial for murder and shooting with intent to kill charges this June. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
