Kyle Rittenhouse's friend, who bought him an assault-style rifle when he was only 17, has agreed to plead no contest to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a non-criminal citation, and avoid convictions on the two felonies he'd been facing.
Black was charged in November 2020 with two counts of delivering a dangerous weapon to a minor, resulting in death. The protesters Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph and Anthony in August of 2020.
Black purchased the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle for Rittenhouse at a hardware store at the age of 18. Rittenhouse was not old enough to legally purchase the weapon.
Rittenhouse used it to kill two people and wound a third in August 2020. A jury found him not guilty in November.
Black was the first prosecution witness at Rittenhouse's trial, but the status of his own charges were up in the air after Judge Bruce Schroeder agreed to throw out one of the charges against Rittenhouse. The exception in the law that allows 17-year-olds to possess rifles and shotguns was convinced by the defense.
Black's case will be heard by the judge on Monday.
The proposed plea agreement was filed by the assistant district attorney. Black would plead no contest to a pair of citations and pay a $2,000 fine and the felony counts would be dismissed. The deal was first reported.
The judge could reject the deal or dismiss the original felony counts based on his ruling in the Rittenhouse case.
Cotton said he was hopeful that the negotiated agreement would be accepted by Schroeder, noting that Black had already testified under oath.
Bruce Vielmetti can be reached at bvielmetti@jrn.com. You can follow him on the social media site.
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