11 April 2017 :

Dylann Roof, 23, White, was given nine consecutive life sentences in prison after he pleaded guilty to state murder charges Monday, leaving him to await execution in a federal prison and sparing his victims and their families the burden of a second trial. Judge J.C. Nicholson imposed the sentences following a hearing in which church members and Roof’s grandfather testified about the personal toll of the case. The self-avowed white supremacist entered his guilty pleas while standing at the defence table with his attorneys, clad in a grey and white striped jail jumpsuit and handcuffed to a chain at his waist. Roof’s plea deal with state prosecutors, who also had been pursuing the death penalty, came in exchange for a life prison sentence on the state charges. Roof will be taken to a federal prison in another state, where he will await his execution on charges of hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion. Roof was convicted late last year of 33 federal charges. He was sentenced to death during a separate proceeding earlier this year. Solicitor Scarlett Wilson called the plea deal “an insurance policy for the federal conviction.” With a new administration in Washington, Wilson said she’s more confident that a federal death sentence will be carried out.