A judge has sentenced a man who ran over and killed an RCMP officer in Saskatchewan to 18 years in prison.

Alphonse Stanley Traverse of Winnipeg pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter in the death of Const. Shelby Patton.

Patton, 26, had pulled over a suspected stolen truck in the town of Wolseley, east of Regina, in 2021.

Court heard the officer asked Traverse to step out of the truck and, when Traverse started the vehicle to drive off, Patton stepped on the running board and reached for the keys.

Patton fell when the truck jerked and was run over by a rear tire.

“All I’m able to say is, sincerely, that the Patton family — and I think this even applies to Mr. Traverse — that I hope all of you can someday, somehow find some peace,” Court of King’s Bench Justice Michael Tochor said Thursday while handing down the sentence in Regina.

Traverse also received a concurrent sentence of 18 months for theft of a motor vehicle.

The Crown had been seeking a life sentence, while the defence recommended 16 years.

An agreed statement of facts said Traverse was on warrant status at the time for various offences.

He and a woman had decided to drive from Winnipeg to play VLTs in Saskatchewan, as bars in Manitoba were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When their truck broke down, they stole another near Pipestone, Man.

Traverse and the woman had also been using crystal meth, said the document.