Former Rutgers Student Gets 30 Days for Webcam Spying on Roommate
The former Rutgers University student convicted of using a webcam to spy on his roommate has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after rejecting a plea deal that called for no prison time.
Dharun Ravi could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to the New York Times and the New Jersey Star-Ledger. The roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide shortly after Ravi spied on Clementi’s romantic encounter with another man in September 2010.
Ravi was convicted of multiple counts in his March trial, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation.
New Jersey Judge Glenn Berman imposed the light sentence after scolding Ravi, who “unexpectedly chose not to address the court,” according to the Star-Ledger. “I haven’t heard you apologize once,” Berman said.
Berman also said he would add a letter to the record urging immigration officials not to deport Ravi. The former student had rejected a plea deal that called for no prison sentence and help avoiding deportation because he did not want to testify that his aim was intimidation. “That would be a lie,” he told the Star-Ledger in a March interview.