The legal saga surrounding the Mitchell Legion baseball team has reached a formal conclusion. After guilty pleas to lesser crimes from the group of baseball players, the group has received probation and suspended sentences.
Six team members, all teenagers at the time, were prosecuted after an alleged incident involving a 16-year-old teammate at a Rapid City hotel in the summer of 2023. A coach connected to the team was prosecuted for, and acquitted of, failure to report child abuse. Similar charges were dismissed against a team board member as well.
Those team members are Landon Waddell, 20; Hudson Hailey, 19; Carter Miller, 19; Lincoln Bates, 19; and 18-year-olds Peyton Mandel and Karter Sibson. The event was captured on video, which was used as evidence in the courtroom.
The high-profile case first rose to prominence after second-degree rape charges were filed against the six. In South Dakota, second-degree rape constitutes the use of force, coercion, or threats to commit nonconsensual sexual acts. As a class 1 felony, it comes with the potential of fifty years if convicted.
Initially, the six defendants plead not guilty, and the incident was framed by the group initially as a “team hazing ritual.” That definition was rejected by the Pennington County States Attorney, who prosecuted the group as adults.
One by one however, the team members flipped, and eventually each submitted guilty pleads to the state. In turn for that plea deal all rape charges against the team were dropped. Instead, the group accepted one count of accessory to a felony, which holds a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Alongside a no-contact order protecting the victim, the team members must also write an apology letter and serve three years’ probation. Considering suspended sentences, the accuse team members will serve no further jail time.