Former police officer Randy Roedema finds prison too harsh and calls for house arrest

Former Colorado police officer Randy Roedema speaks on his behalf during sentencing in Adams County Court, Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in Brighton, Colo. Roedema was found guilty of killing Elijah McClain, a young Black man walking home from a store. He is expected to learn Friday whether a judge will sentence him to prison or if he will receive probation. (ABC News One/Pool via AP)

The only Aurora police officer convicted in Elijah McClain’s death is seeking to have his sentence commuted from 14 months in prison with work release to house arrest. He told a judge he is depressed and paranoid, has trouble sleeping and has lost 30 pounds since beginning his part-time sentence.

Former police officer Randy Roedema was convicted in October of involuntary manslaughter and third-degree assault in connection with McClain’s 2019 death. McClain, an unarmed 23-year-old black man who had committed no crime, was violently arrested by Aurora police and subsequently injected by paramedics with an overdose of a powerful sedative, leading to his death.

Roedema was sentenced to 14 months of work release in January and began serving his sentence in March. Under the work release, Roedema is allowed to leave prison during the day to work, but must return after work and spend nights and weekends in prison.

The application does not specify what function Roedema will hold.

The 41-year-old’s “mental and psychological condition is not conducive to work release,” defense attorney Don Sisson wrote in a motion to convert the part-time sentence to house arrest. Roedema cannot take his anti-anxiety medication because he fears it could result in a positive drug test, Sisson wrote. Roedema also has problems because he cannot go to church, Sisson wrote.

The former officer sleeps only three to four hours a night, his lawyer wrote in the May 29 motion, and is serving his sentence with an inmate Roedema used to supervise when he worked as an assistant corrections officer, Sisson wrote. The lawyer did not elaborate on the extent of contact between the two.

“Defendant Roedema’s PTSD is exacerbated by his constant fear of being attacked and the feeling that other inmates want to hurt him because of his past work as a police officer,” Sisson wrote. “Roedema’s past as a police officer makes him a more frequent target of physical attacks than the average inmate.”

Sisson also argued that Roedema would serve a longer sentence under house arrest than under work release because the credit for “good time” is calculated differently. Roedema receives one day of “good time” for every day of work release he serves, effectively cutting his sentence in half.

Under that schedule, he will serve his release in about seven months — in late October — Sisson wrote. “Good time” on house arrest will not count, so Roedema would have to serve the remaining 10 months of his sentence in full if the sentence is commuted to house arrest.

Adams County District Court Judge Sean Finn ordered the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, to respond to Roedema’s request within 21 days. After that, he said, he will consider arguments from both sides.

Roedema was sentenced in January by Adams County District Court Judge Mark Warner, who at the time refused to send Roedema to prison. Prosecutors had asked for a maximum sentence of three years in prison for the convictions.