OLYMPIA — A man whose life sentence as a three-strike offender was overturned on appeal pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and theft for shoplifting a can of smoked oysters and punching a store owner in Olympia.
After the plea Monday in Thurston County Superior Court, Jay Earl McKague, 43, was sentenced to five years in prison.
His lawyer told The Olympian because of time served, he should be out in less than two years.
McKague had been convicted of more serious charges for the 2008 shoplifting, which landed him a life sentence because of previous felony convictions for kidnapping, assault and robbery.
The sentence was overturned because the prosecutor had showed the jury a slide show with a photo of McKague and the word “guilty” in large red letters.
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