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Former Maryland police chief given probation in misconduct trial

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SNOW HILL, Md. (AP) — A former Maryland police chief has been sentenced to three years of probation in an ongoing case surrounding charges he improperly interfered in an investigation.

Maryland prosecutors say former Pocomoke City police chief Kelvin Sewell has been given a three-year suspended sentence in favor of three years supervised probation.

In May, Sewell was convicted for a second time of misconduct in office. A 2016 conviction on the case was overturned. Prosecutors accuse Sewell of failing to charge a state corrections officer involved in a 2014 hit-and-run because they were friends.

The case drew state-wide attention upon Sewell's firing in 2015. The Washington Post reports thousands protested, citing racial discrimination against the city's black police chief.

In March, the city paid Sewell $450,000 in a federal civil rights suit over reported discrimination.