A 27-year-old Dunkin' Donuts worker accused of fatally punching a customer who used a racial slur has avoided jail time by pleading guilty to a reduced charge.
Corey Pujols on Monday was sentenced to two years of house arrest after pleading guilty to felony battery, CBS News reported. The judge also ordered him to attend anger management courses and complete 200 hours of community service.
Pujols was initially charged with aggravated manslaughter after the incident, which happened in May 2021 at a Dunkin' location inside a Marathon gas station in Tampa, according to WTVT. The charge carries a 30-year prison sentence.
The victim, 77-year-old Vonelle Cook, entered the store and began yelling about poor customer service he received in the drive-thru, NBC News reported. Cook, described by prosecutors as a frequent customer who was "regularly troublesome," was asked to leave the restaurant, according to reports, but he became irate and called Pujols, who is black, the N-word.
Pujols walked from behind the counter and told Cook, who is white, not to use the racial slur, but Cook said it again, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Pujols alleged punched Cook in the jaw, which caused him to fall to the floor and hit his head, according to the newspaper. He died three days later.
A spokesman for the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office told the Times that several factors were considered in agreeing to a plea deal, including Cook's behavior and the fact that Pujols did not intend to cause his death.
"Two of the primary factors were the aggressive approach the victim took toward the defendant and everyone working with the defendant, and that the victim repeatedly used possibly the most aggressive and offensive term in the English language," Grayson Kamm told the newspaper.
Cook's family declined to speak at Monday's sentencing hearing, CBS reported.
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