South Dakota AG Pleads No Contest To 2 Counts In Fatal Crash

Ravnsborg pleaded no contest to charges of making an illegal lane change and using a phone while driving.

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg on Thursday pleaded no contest plea to two misdemeanor traffic charges for a crash last year in which he hit and killed a man who was walking along a rural highway. Ravnsborg pleaded no contest to charges of making an illegal lane change and using a phone while driving, which each carry a sentence of up to 30 days in jail and up to a $500 fine. He had been charged with three misdemeanors, but prosecutors dropped a careless driving charge as part of the deal. The Republican attorney general was driving home to Pierre from a political fundraiser on Sept. 12 when he struck a man walking on the side of a highway. In a 911 call after the crash, Ravnsborg was initially unsure of what he hit, then concluded it was a deer. He said he didn't realize he struck a man until he returned to the crash scene the next day and discovered the body of Joseph Boever, who was killed at age 55.