Disgraced Mountie resigns before sentence

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 21 (UPI) -- A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who was found guilty in a fatal 2008 traffic incident resigned from the force, just ahead of his sentencing.

As the sentencing hearing for Cpl. Benjamin Robinson was beginning Friday in Vancouver, Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens announced Robinson had voluntarily resigned from the RCMP, CBC News reported.

"While I have been clear that I was seeking his involuntary dismissal, the opportunity to discharge him from the organization this morning was one which eliminated further delays, costs and uncertainty," said Callens.

Robinson was found guilty in March of obstruction of justice following a collision in Delta, B.C., that killed motorcyclist Orion Hutchinson.

Prosecutors requested a sentence of three to nine months jail time or a 12- to 18-month conditional sentence for Robinson, while his defense lawyers sought a three- to six-month conditional sentence.

Robinson is also one of four RCMP officers awaiting trial on perjury charges in the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport in 2007.

A group of RCMP officers under Robinson's control repeatedly stunned Dziekanski with a Taser. Dziekanski died at the scene.