46. Then Came The Sentencing
A week after the trials began, on November 5, the judge issued a sentence for the first 12 of the African American men. They had all been convicted of murder – presumably the killing of the white man at the church – and were all sentenced to die in the electric chair.
Sixty-five other men who were on trial quickly attempted to enter into plea bargains for second-degree murder. They were given lighter sentences of 21 years in prison – a harsh punishment, given that there were no plans of a revolt, but at least they would escape with their own lives.
